Chapter 702: The Life-Saving Apple

Am I always this unlucky?

Hearing the lazy youth's question, the delighted Li Ang's expression suddenly turned serious, and he hurriedly asked:

"Yes! My luck has never been good. No matter how well I plan, something always goes wrong during missions, and I always encounter some inexplicable dangers. Even watching a play, I can run into an Anomaly suddenly losing control... Senior, do you have any leads?"

"Leads... rather than leads, it's more like experience..."

Throwing the sour apple in his hand, which knocked a picture frame crooked on the wall beside the stairs, the lazy youth said with a heart full of bitterness:

"If I'm not mistaken, our situations should be similar. Both of us angered the Will of the World due to certain matters and are disliked by this world."

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

"To put it simply, it means inexplicable bad luck and misfortune."

Glancing at the picture frame whose nail was slowly dislodging and tilting toward the stairs, the lazy youth pulled Li Ang forward a step and sighed heavily, saying:

"I don't know your situation, but mine is that I leaked too much of the future, erased some things that should have happened, causing many changes in the world's trajectory, so I was rejected by the Will of the World.

For example... you know Director Aquarius, right? Did the Director tell you that my core Anomaly, that pair of dice capable of calculating probability, was crafted by him for me?"

"He did mention a bit..."

"If the Director told you about this, then it wouldn't just be 'a bit'; he would definitely say a lot."

The lazy youth said somewhat helplessly:

"She also told you to be wary of me and not to trust me completely, right?"

"Uh..."

"It's fine; what the Director said is correct."

Amidst the ear-splitting sound of the heavy solid wood picture frame crashing down and smashing the stair railing, the lazy youth began explaining to the somewhat embarrassed Li Ang:

"Director Aquarius's target was exposed by you. Now, the management members of every branch know he is planning to sneak into the Watchtower Palace. However, regarding this target, I was actually the first to know; I could even be considered his co-conspirator. The Director was right to tell you to be careful of me."

"Ah?"

"Sigh, it's mainly my own bad luck..."

After sighing gloomily, the lazy youth muttered with a strained expression:

"Back then, after the Anomaly was created, Director Aquarius asked about my abilities, and I told him. Then he became interested and said he wanted to ask me for a small favor.

Director Aquarius's Anomaly Creation Secret Technique is quite exquisite. Countless people up and down the Bureau have used Anomalies created by him; his connections rival even those of the Underlord of the Golden Bull Pavilion. When such a big shot politely asks you to lend a hand, if it were you, would you help?"

"..."

If it were me... facing a request from a Director with high reputation and status who can also create Anomalies, I would probably agree as well...

"Right?" Seeing the look of agreement in Li Ang's eyes, the lazy youth couldn't help but complain:

"I am truly so unlucky. Who knew a Director could harbor evil intentions? So I agreed without thinking, until he cast a Word Spirit on me forbidding me to leak secrets. Only then did I realize something felt off, but by then it was too late."

Dodging the railing that fell to the side after being smashed, and giving Li Ang's back a push to help him walk down before the suspended stone stairs collapsed, Tang Mu said with a gloomy face:

"Director Aquarius has a ritual-type Anomaly capable of temporarily boosting Hearing Li Ang levels. He force-fed me a huge amount of True God flesh, temporarily changed my race, forced me to drink his fresh blood, sliced open my arm to stuff in his rotting flesh, and even planted his fallen teeth in my brow..."

Pointing to the strange scar on his brow, the lazy youth said through gritted teeth:

"After torturing me thoroughly, he forcibly raised my Hearing Li Ang level to nearly 70 points, then forced me to use the dice to calculate for him how he could replace the next Ascender and become the new Ascender to ascend the Watchtower Palace.

And I, forced by necessity, helped him, raising his probability of seizing the Palace from the original 12% to 66%. But because of this, I was disliked by the world, and now I suffer major misfortune constantly... Hey! Is anyone up there? The stairs suddenly collapsed; we can't go back!"

Unaware that the person asking the question below was the very culprit who destroyed the nearly fifty-meter-long staircase, the people above who rushed over upon hearing the commotion hurriedly replied:

"We are trying to find a way... How is your situation now? If you are uncomfortable, please continue downward. The head of the Masi family is also down there; he can help you come up. Also, this is the token needed to continue downward; please take it!"

Accompanied by the somewhat muffled shouting of the person above, a bright silver cat-paw badge was thrown down. After bouncing twice among the ruins of the stairs, it landed with incredible precision in the open palm of the lazy youth.

"Alright, I've got my badge too. Let's talk while we walk."

Pinning the badge thrown back by the sour apple onto his lapel, the lazy youth continued leading Li Ang downward while explaining:

"This world likes humans. Compared to demons who turn the entire earth into lava, evil gods preparing to make the sun never rise, Moon Children who want to hollow out the earth's core like they hollowed out the moon, or Shi Qian who hope to freeze everything and return to the Ice Age, we humans are the most gentle creatures to her, even consciously maintaining her stability.

Therefore, any existence capable of endangering humans and the world, or potentially destroying this stability, will suffer invisible rejection from the Will of the World. Since the Will of the World cannot directly come down and kill us, it can only use some unconventional methods to make us unstable elements suffer endless bad luck, trying to kill us or drive us out."

"..."

No... it can be like this?

"Rest assured, this rejection from the world isn't entirely a bad thing."

Looking at Li Ang, whose face showed some shock, the lazy youth somehow pulled out another apple and handed it over, saying with a complex expression:

"The Wheel of Fortune is equal for everyone; it's impossible to stay at a low level forever. So for us unlucky fools disliked by the world, as long as we endure the bad luck gifted by the Will of the World, we will welcome a surge of fate.

However, after the surge comes an even more fierce drop.

Compared to others whose fate only has minor fluctuations, the fate of people like you and me is like a wave line with increasingly strong oscillations. The gains we receive and the crises we encounter will constantly grow, until we either become a god surpassing everything on a towering Bofeng, or are sent to the World of the Dead by sudden misfortune in a fatal trough."

Either "become a god" or "become a ghost"?

Feeling that Senior Tang Mu didn't seem to be lying to him, Li Ang pondered for a moment and couldn't help but ask:

"Then what about you, Senior? What is your situation now?"

"I can't become a god, but I can't die either... generally speaking, I can't die."

Pointing at the apple in Li Ang's hand, the lazy youth seriously suggested:

"If you are willing to believe me, carry more apples with you. When you discover your luck is getting worse, eat one, then throw away the core. This thing can save your life at critical moments."

(End of Chapter)