Chapter 34 Harvesting the scattered human body fragments.
The return journey was smoother than I had imagined.
This time there were no separate cabins for men and women, because none of the male members of the Co-Prosperity Group showed up. Zhu Xi, whom they were relatively familiar with, was also gone, leaving only the half-acquaintances, Cookie and Xiaomi.
But at least they were temporary teammates, so the atmosphere wasn't unpleasant.
Yun Qiandu was prepared to break through Xiao Mi's sophistry at any time, but found that Xiao Mi had returned to her reserved and quiet self when they first met.
She seemed a little conflicted, but not aggressive at all.
Yun Qiandu mouthed "strange" to Ying Yi, and Ying Yi shook his head.
Chu Jue could sense that Xiao Mi would occasionally steal a glance at him, but she didn't say anything, and Chu Jue didn't ask.
At this moment, the red number above Xiao Mi's head increased slightly again. Although it was unclear why, Xiao Mi was now clearly much more "normal" than before.
She listened during their conversations, and the biggest change was that she no longer talked about her male group leader all the time.
Does a high potential value indicate the presence or absence of brain disease?
As they parted, they politely said goodbye until the next time, but perhaps only Chu Jue was truly looking forward to their next meeting.
Unfortunately, they didn't manage to harvest two thousand this time either.
-
Back in Group 111, Chu Jue was embraced by Jiang Tianjiao. After receiving a warm hug and some reluctant praise from Fang Zhiyi, Chu Jue browsed the forum for a while, prompted by Jiang Jingshu.
The live stream post was still floating at the top, and the rest of the screen was filled with discussions related to the exchange meeting.
[Discussion and Casual Talk][Anonymous Post] #First Prediction Post for This Year's Conference#
[1L][OP]: I was excitedly starting a prediction thread, but while analyzing the contestants, I suddenly heard that there's a top-tier player at level seven this year...
[2L][Anonymous User]: Really? What's the point of playing then? Doesn't this mean the first place is already decided?
[3L][Anonymous User]: Sigh, the central area, sigh, that place...
[4L][Anonymous User]: The person upstairs is so daring, are they out of their mind?
[5L][Anonymous User]: Although, even high-level spiritualists may not necessarily have any connection with the central area. Don't spread things here without evidence; it sounds like spreading rumors.
[6L][Anonymous User]: Oh, then why don't you nominate another contestant? If it's not pre-arranged, who else could get first place besides him? Are you saying that even low-level grassroots players can make a comeback?
This floor existed before Chu Jue appeared. After she appeared, people started joking about the "grassroots theory" of the sixth floor.
[33L][Anonymous User]: 6L, your grassroots friend has arrived! [/smirk]
[34L]t[Anonymous User]: What are you laughing at upstairs? 6L was just giving an example, it doesn't mean it's that grassroots.
[35L][Anonymous User]: The grassroots are going to crush the 7 Emperors! Fortune changes every thirty years, never underestimate a young man's potential!
[38L][Anonymous User]: Uh, I'm from 6L. Can the person making the sarcastic remarks understand human language? Thanks.
Midway through, as Chu Jue defeated one opponent after another, the atmosphere in the thread began to shift. Many unanswered questions appeared, with most people wondering why things had developed to this point.
[108L][Anonymous User]: I came to see the prediction, but after seeing this, I realized the original poster was inaccurate. This is the real Emperor has arrived.
[109L][Anonymous User]: I didn't understand how they won, but anyway, they won.
[110L][Anonymous User]: How come she always wins by a narrow margin? What did she do? Is this really reasonable?
[113L][Anonymous User]: No... She's been able to fight all this way since she was the first one to go on stage. The later contestants must all be a whole level higher than her, right? I don't believe there's no script.
[120L][Anonymous User]: That's not necessarily true. Maybe it'll be a battle between a minor and major emperor, a smaller scenario first, then a larger one, and finally having the seventh-tier one defeat her would better highlight the power of the major emperor. At the same time, they're both being promoted.
[133L][Anonymous User]: 120L is right, you have the potential to be a screenwriter. I suspect that you arranged this.
[140L][Anonymous User]: I don't mean to refute you, but have you ever considered that even if the central district wanted to push it hard, it would be difficult to get all the group leaders of all the organizations to cooperate with them on this point...?
[142L][Anonymous User]: Hmm... I just want to say that 140L is still too young...
[143L][Anonymous User]: Actually, the players don't need to cooperate. You just need to secretly change the judgment detection.
[145L][Anonymous User]: ...The person upstairs is truly idiotic, treating the participants from various organizations like fools. If secretly changing the rules were effective, wouldn't the participants have already protested? Even if they were judged to have lost, they would have initiated arbitration.
[147L][Anonymous User]: So what's the conclusion? Was it all pre-arranged?
This post wasn't particularly popular initially, since most people following the exchange were commenting in the live stream thread. It wasn't until Chu Jue successfully won first place that the post quickly became a trending topic.
Countless netizens flocked to the post, expressing their utter dread upon closer examination of the 6L comment.
[636L][Anonymous User]: The true prophet has already appeared, but people at that time were blindfolded, and no one saw through his identity...
[647L][Anonymous User]: ? ? ? Who is this number one? Where did they come from? Did I miss class?
[648L][Anonymous User]: And what is this Group 111...? I've never heard of it before...
[652L][Anonymous User]: Uh, must have a powerful backer. I wonder how this person suddenly appeared out of nowhere (I'm not saying that this person's organization didn't appear out of nowhere).
[653L][Anonymous User]: Central District, do you think your script is reasonable? Just because a true member of the royal family appears, does that mean all the other spirit beings have become part of your play? ???
[658L][Anonymous User]: I rarely swear, but this time I really couldn't hold back.
[677L][Anonymous User]: Good heavens, to let a seventh-tier character lose to the first female spirit to go on stage, I really don't know what to say.
[686L][骟骟来迟]: ? You guys weren't like this when I said the seventh-tier male was royalty, acting like, "Since his spirit rank is so high, it's okay for me to fawn over him, right?" Now why are you all so defensive just because the first one is a different gender?
[687L][骟骟来迟]: Also, 677 didn't emphasize men when talking about the seventh rank, but later had to specifically emphasize women. Does that mean you men are the primary sex?
[690L][Anonymous User]: Someone upstairs is making a mountain out of a molehill, I won't say who it is.
[693L][铟铟来迟]: Taking this too seriously? Why don't we all castrate your dads together?
[698L][Anonymous User]: ***
[700L][鶟鶟来迟]: Who spilled their sewing kit? One of the threads fell here.
[703L][Anonymous User]: 6
[704L][骟骟来迟]: What do you mean 6? Did your dad die 6?
The thread erupted into a chaotic battle, just like the scene on the live stream. The latecomer, Shanshan, was very aggressive and was quickly reported by a group. Chu Jue casually clicked "help appeal," filled in "friendly speech" as the reason, and then went to look through the live stream thread.
The general trend was similar to the prediction post: first, the screen was full of random chatter, then full of question marks, and finally everyone agreed to start criticizing the central area.
Of course, because many people dared not point their guns at the center, the vast majority of the firepower was directed at her.
The text is a jumbled mess of characters and phrases, seemingly unrelated and lacking coherent meaning. It appears to be a
Yun Qiandu was frantically typing in support of Shanshan's late arrival, while also complaining: "These people are just watching the show, but they're also spreading rumors."
Ying Yi didn't browse the forums very often, but he was familiar with this kind of scene: "It's a common trick, not the first time."
With nothing else to do, Chu Jue watched the online outcry on the forum as if he were following a serialized story, completely oblivious to the fact that he was the one being pushed to the center of the controversy.
She also noticed several familiar IDs that appeared to be members of the Lunar Eclipse group.
Chu Jue gave them a follow.
She's been busy participating in exchange meetings lately, which has slowed down her progress in gaining merit points. She's only gained a little over 500 merit points in total.
She had planned to deal with the Lunar Eclipse Group at the exchange meeting, but to her surprise, the Lunar Eclipse Group didn't even show up, perhaps to avoid her.
There's nothing much to do right now, so it's time to rely on the Eclipse Group to fill in the progress bar.
-
As dusk settled, the fluctuations of spiritual energy were silent.
Chu Jue was following behind Lunar Eclipse.
A few days ago, Chu Jue noticed on the forum that a member of the Lunar Eclipse Group was buying spirit stones. She used a fake account to pretend to be a seller and lured the male member of the Lunar Eclipse Group with a low price.
Using the male member's personal terminal, she delved deeper and deeper, successively possessing five or six accounts before successfully luring and capturing the male leader of the Lunar Eclipse Group.
The moon eclipse was pacing back and forth, occasionally whistling, waiting for its subordinates to offer tribute.
But this time the wait seems to have been a bit too long.
The wind blew gently as always, and the dim light and shadows became blurred. The number of people walking around gradually decreased, and the shadows of various shapes were stretched out.
……wrong.
The whistling stopped abruptly.
The moon remained frozen in place during the eclipse.
However, after a brief pause, the exaggerated tune resumed.
He stretched deliberately, then did a chest-expanding exercise. Accompanied by the cracking sound of his joints, his left hand naturally touched the spirit puppet placed on his chest.
He noticed the indistinct figure that had stopped behind him.
At this moment, the names of many enemies who had clashed with him surfaced in Lunar Eclipse's mind.
The shadow moved, and the distance between the two closed.
The lunar eclipse instantly activated the spirit puppet.
His spiritual level suddenly surged, drawing upon the powerful spiritual energy within the puppet and converting it into his own. The fluid movements were executed in one smooth motion; his first reaction was not to turn around, but to dodge to the side.
After confirming that the opponent's attack had missed, Lunar Eclipse took the opportunity to turn around. He always believed that offense was the best defense, but the moment he saw the opponent's clothes and face, he quickly changed his stance.
Damn it, it's that woman.
To make that woman forget him, Lunar Eclipse has been behaving very well lately. Although the discussions on the forum are lively, he doesn't dare to show his forum nickname as before, and always honestly turns on anonymous mode when replying.
The wanted poster with the bounty on it has also been put on hold and replies are disabled. Judging from the situation on the day Zhanji was killed, Yue Shi clearly realized that he was far inferior to this woman.
But given her savage and ruthless nature, she shouldn't have any trouble finding opponents. Who knows, she might offend someone in the central district one day and get taken care of. At that point, she'll be too busy taking care of herself to bother with him.
I never expected her to be so idle.
Lunar Eclipse sensed something was wrong, and his thoughts of a direct attack or a sneak attack were immediately extinguished. The most precise decision quickly formed in his mind—escape.
He poured all his spiritual power into speed, racing as if being chased by a wild beast. Chu Jue, however, followed closely, always maintaining a distance that was an arm's length away.
Chu Jue moved nimbly and followed silently, but Lunar Eclipse could not ignore the prominent black shadow behind him.
As night fell, the oppressive feeling of light and shadow under the streetlights grew stronger, and the heartbeat of the lunar eclipse became more and more obvious.
Unable to withstand the chilling relentless pursuit, he couldn't help but ask while fleeing for his life, "What exactly do you want?"
Chu Jue: "I'll kill you."
Lunar Eclipse's composure crumbled. Terrified by her words, his legs went weak, and he staggered haphazardly, barely managing to escape under immense pressure. His clothes were soaked with sweat, and he soon realized with horror that he was no longer as fast as before.
His mind was tense, almost shutting him out of his surroundings, except for the sound behind him, which was amplified infinitely. Chu Jue's footsteps were heavier than before.
This means that she is now a little closer to him.
She was moving at his pace, approaching him step by step with malice.
Until Lunar Eclipse was utterly exhausted and could no longer bear the intense pressure, he raised his hand to signal his surrender, and gasped for breath as he pleaded with Chu Jue, "You, you just tell me, what can I do to spare my life?"
Chu Jue stopped, thought for a moment, and said, "Hand over the inheritance."
Moon Eclipse knelt down before her with a thud: "Great-aunt, Grandmother, this..."
His reaction surprised Chu Jue: "Don't you want to live?"
"No, I..." Lunar Eclipse's expression was complicated; she opened her mouth but no sound came out. This affected, hesitant manner was clearly meant for someone else.
Noticing Chu Jue's impatient and increasingly aggressive actions, he made up his mind and confessed:
"I have no lineage. The idea that the Lunar Eclipse Group has a lineage is a lie I spread; I never had that thing."
Chu Jue: ?
"What is that spirit puppet?"
“A spirit puppet is just a spirit puppet; it has little to do with inheritance.” Lunar Eclipse took a deep breath. “I’ve never even seen one, but there are plenty of people who haven’t.”
"I don't know where their confidence came from. They saw it and subconsciously guessed that it was a legacy. I just went with the flow and didn't deny it in order to recruit people."
Chu Jue looked him up and down; his sincere expression seemed genuine. He shouldn't be doing something like protecting the legacy when facing certain death, just to save his own life.
"I really don't have any inheritance. But I do have two spirit puppets... How about I give them to you? Please spare me."
Lunar Eclipse pulled out the last of his savings from his pocket. He had gone to great lengths and done a lot of work for that grandson to collect them, but he never expected that he would have to use them all as offerings today.
"Where did the spirit puppet come from?"
"Everyone says they're from the management office. But I don't actually know who they are."
"Hmm." Chu Jue nodded.
The moment she touched the spirit puppet, it shattered into pieces.
The system notification sounded, and after Chu Jue absorbed two spirit puppets with different values into his body, his mental power had been restored to 1700+.
Lunar Eclipse was stunned by her violent methods.
Realizing that Chu Jue had no intention of killing him for the time being, he grew bolder: "How did you do that? Spirit puppets are usually indestructible, how did you break it so easily?"
Their usual practice has been to overdraw their own spiritual energy, borrowing some for emergencies. This is the first time I've seen someone use it like this directly.
"Want to know?" Chu Jue gestured for him to come closer.
"I'm thinking and thinking," Lunar Eclipse said, her eyes shining with longing, and she quickly leaned in to listen.
“Like this,” Chu Jue said.
She gently tapped his chest, and Lunar Eclipse felt a sudden suffocation, as if something was welling up inside him.
An irresistible, twisting force gripped his internal organs.
The sudden, unpredictable eruption instantly disintegrated him, his limbs exploding and scattering human fragments all over the ground.
The lunar eclipse, which loved marketing the sense of fragmentation, became fragmented, with various organizations and fragments of spirit puppets mixed together. The unfocused eyeball rolled to the ground, and Chu Jue stared at it without changing his expression.
"Now you know everything."
-----------------------
Author's note: My writing urge exploded, so I wrote a short story as practice.
After writing it, I felt like Stephen Chow [The Joker].
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