Chapter 300: 299 The Lifesaving Apple

Am I always this unlucky?

Upon hearing the lazy youth's question, Li Ang's face, which had been filled with delight, instantly grew serious, and he quickly pressed further:

"Yes! My luck has always been terrible. No matter how well I plan, something always goes wrong during missions, and I keep encountering strange dangers—even watching a play can lead to an anomaly suddenly going berserk… Senior, do you have any idea why?"

"An idea… rather than an idea, it's more like experience…"

Throwing the sour apple from his hand, it struck and knocked crooked a painting frame on the wall beside the stairs; the lazy youth sighed with bitter resignation:

"If I'm not mistaken, our situations are nearly identical—we've both angered the World's Will and been despised by this world."

"Despised by the world? What does that mean?"

"Put simply—it means inexplicable misfortune and constant setbacks."

Glancing at the painting frame, its nail slowly loosening and tilting toward the stairs, the lazy youth pulled Li Ang forward one step and sighed heavily:

"I don't know your case, but mine is this: I revealed too much of the future, erased events that were meant to happen, and caused significant deviations in the world's course—so the World's Will turned against me.

For example… you know the Aquarius Director, right? Has the Director told you nothing about my core anomaly—the pair of dice capable of calculating probabilities—that he helped me forge?"

"He mentioned something about it…"

"If the Director told you that, he didn't just say 'something'—he definitely told you a lot."

The lazy youth said, exasperated:

"Didn't he also tell you to watch out for me, not to trust me completely?"

"Uh…"

"It's fine—the Director is right."

Amid the deafening crash of the heavy solid-wood frame falling and smashing the staircase railing, the lazy youth explained to the awkward Li Ang:

"Your revelation exposed Aquarius Director's goal. Now every branch's operating members know he plans to infiltrate the Watch Palace—but I was the first to know his plan. In fact, I conspired with him. The Director was right to warn you."

"Huh?"

"Ah, but mostly it's just my own bad luck…"

After a long, weary sigh, the lazy youth muttered with a pained expression:

"After the anomaly was created, Aquarius Director asked about my ability, so I told him. He became interested and asked me for a small favor.

Aquarius Director's Anomaly Creation Art is exceptionally refined—he's created anomalies used by countless people across the Bureau. His connections rival even Lord Taurus. When a big shot like him politely asks for your help, wouldn't you do it?"

"…"

If it were me… faced with a director of high reputation and status who could craft anomalies, I'd probably agree too…

"Right?"

Seeing Li Ang's nod of agreement, the lazy youth grumbled:

"I was just so unlucky. Who knew a director could harbor such ill intent? I agreed without hesitation—until he bound me with a forbidden-secrecy spell. Only then did I realize something was wrong. But by then, it was too late."

Avoiding the fallen railing, he shoved Li Ang's back and led him down just before the suspended stone stairs cracked apart; Tang Mu's face darkened:

"Aquarius Director had a ritual anomaly that temporarily boosts Li Ang values. He forcibly fed me a massive amount of true god flesh, changed my race, forced me to drink his blood, sliced open my arm to implant his rotting flesh, and planted his shed teeth in my forehead…"

Pointing to the strange scar on his forehead, the lazy youth gritted his teeth:

"After torturing me like that, he forcibly raised my Li Ang value to nearly seventy points, then forced me to use the dice to calculate how he could replace the next Ascender and ascend to the Watch Palace.

I had no choice but to help—I raised his chance of seizing the palace from twelve percent to sixty-six percent. But because of that, the world despised me. Now I'm constantly struck by terrible misfortune… Hey! Is anyone up there? The stairs just collapsed—we can't go back!"

Unaware that the person below was the one who had destroyed nearly fifty meters of stairs, those above who heard the commotion quickly replied:

"We're working on it… How are you doing? If you're unwell, keep going down—we have the Ma Sai family's patriarch below. He can help you up. Also, here's the token needed to proceed downward—catch it!"

As the voice above grew faint, a silver cat-claw badge was thrown down, bounced twice amid the rubble, then landed with perfect precision in the lazy youth's open palm.

"Alright, I've got my badge. Let's keep going while we talk."

Pinning the badge—retrieved by the sour apple—onto his collar, the lazy youth continued downward with Li Ang and explained:

"This world favors humans. Compared to demons who turn the earth to magma, evil gods who prevent the sun from rising, Moon Children who hollow out the earth as if it were the moon, or primordial humans who seek to freeze all existence and return to the Ice Age, humans are the gentlest beings to her—and even consciously maintain her stability.

Therefore, any entity that threatens humans or the world's stability is invisibly rejected by the World's Will. But since the World's Will cannot directly kill us, it uses indirect methods: it ensures these unstable elements suffer endless misfortune, hoping to drive us to death or exile."

Therefore, any entity that poses a threat to humanity or the world, or could potentially disrupt this stability, faces invisible rejection from the World Will; since the World Will cannot directly intervene to kill us, it can only resort to unconventional methods to make us, these unstable elements, suffer endless misfortune, aiming to eliminate or drive us out.

Wait… it can really work like that?

"Don't worry—this world's disdain isn't entirely bad."

Glancing at Li Ang's startled expression, the lazy youth pulled another apple from somewhere and offered it to him, his expression complex:

"The Wheel of Fate is equal for everyone—it can't stay low forever. So we, the unlucky ones despised by the world, if we endure the bad luck the World's Will heaps upon us, will eventually experience a sudden surge of fortune.

The Wheel of Fate is equal for everyone; it cannot remain perpetually low. Thus, we, the unlucky ones despised by the world, will experience a dramatic surge in fortune once we endure the bad luck bestowed upon us by the World Will.

While others' fates fluctuate slightly, ours resemble a wave whose amplitude grows ever stronger—the rewards and dangers both escalate, until one day we reach a towering peak and become gods beyond all, or plunge into a fatal trough and are swept away by sudden misfortune into the Land of the Dead."

Compared to others whose fates experience only minor fluctuations, our fates resemble a wave line whose oscillations grow ever stronger—our gains and crises both escalate continuously, until one day we either rise to a towering peak and become a god surpassing all, or plunge into a fatal trough and are swept away by sudden misfortune into the world of the dead.

Feeling Tang Mu wasn't lying, Li Ang pondered a moment, then asked:

"And you, Senior? What's your situation now?"

"I can't become a god… but I can't die either. Not under normal circumstances."

Pointing to the apple in Li Ang's hand, the lazy youth said seriously:

"If you believe me, carry extra apples. When you feel your luck turning bad, eat one, then throw away the core. This thing can save your life when it matters most."

After pointing to the apple in Li Ang's hand, the lazy youth said seriously:

"If you're willing to believe me, carry extra apples with you. When you notice your luck turning bad, eat one, then throw away the core—this thing can save your life when it matters most."