Chapter 324

The TV's variety show ended, and a legal affairs program began airing.

"There's one more thing I want to ask you."

Yuan Zhixia paused briefly and said: "If you next receive a exploration death arena task of the same type as 【Electricity Retracing】, please keep an eye out for any clues regarding the 【Ten Thousand Eyes Room】."

Li Cheng remembered: Yuan Zhixia's cousin, Yuan Donglian, was still trapped somewhere in the death arena's physical entity, confined daily to a cell-sized space, facing hundreds of surveillance screens in the Ten Thousand Eyes Room, serving as customer service Xiao Yuan.

"Why come to me?"

Li Cheng frowned slightly, "Isn't the Special Affairs Bureau the one most desperate to find the Ten Thousand Eyes Room?"

Given the Special Affairs Bureau's modus operandi, they would never do something like 【intentionally avoid searching for or rescuing the Ten Thousand Eyes Room because it's useful】.

Meanwhile, the Mobile Task Force has ample personnel and abundant resources, constantly sending teams to explore the death arena's physical entity.

"Your rating."

Yuan Zhixia explained succinctly: "Based on the Bureau's accumulated experience from past cases, the death arena likely assigns each player a 【hidden score】."

The higher a player's hidden score, the more likely they are to receive tasks of major significance.

"Like 【Electricity Retracing】 and this time's 【Anchored Connection】."

Li Cheng nodded. "Alright, I'll contact you if I get any information."

Outside the window, the sun set. Yuan Zhixia stood up, gathered her notes, pens, and talismans, then pulled a special spray from her backpack slot—a substance that erases biological traces—and sprayed it over the bowls and chopsticks they had used.

(Players' life essence far exceeds ordinary humans; even the most basic microscope reveals abnormalities in their somatic cells. Thus, most players deliberately collect fallen hairs and skin flakes—some even shave their heads entirely.)

One second before the two were about to open the private room door, a system alert sounded in their ears.

【Task Type: Script Task (Team Deathmatch)】

【Task Name: Celestial Court Lawyer】

【Phase One Objective: In four hours, lie in a bathtub saturated with water, holding a photocopy of British Library document S343, and await teleportation】

【Task Time Limit: None】

【Task Reward: None】

【Failure Penalty: None】

?!

Both their expressions changed slightly; they stared at each other, then spoke in unison: "Did you hear that?"

"Tch." Yuan Zhixia took a deep breath. "You're also 【Celestial Court Lawyer】?"

"That's right."

At the same location, at the same moment, receiving the same task, Li Cheng looked up at the TV still broadcasting the legal affairs program and gave the invisible, intangible death arena system a firm middle finger.

He had an average S-rank rating; Yuan Zhixia's was about the same. Two S-rank players participating in a team deathmatch, with a task name containing the intimidating term "Celestial Court"—who knew how brutal the content would be?

"The task doesn't start for four hours. Go home and prepare."

Yuan Zhixia sighed, pulled on a mask and hat, stepped out of the hotpot restaurant, and pressed her car key fob, summoning the electric vehicle issued by the Bureau.

Some Mobile Task Force operatives didn't live at the base; to ensure they could respond instantly, the Special Affairs Bureau provided them with free, different-model vehicles as transportation.

Li Cheng also mounted his bicycle and pedaled slowly toward home.

————

"You're back? Want to eat first, shower first, or eat me first~?"

As soon as he opened the door, Li Cheng saw Hui Yu, her lips smeared with spicy strip grease, wearing a bathrobe, leaning against a metal shoe cabinet, trying to strike a seductive pose and winking at him.

Because she winked too fast, her eyelashes cut through the air with a swishing sound.

"What weird short video did you watch this time?"

Li Cheng wearily pushed away Hui Yu's greasy little head. "Get ready—we've got a task." "So soon?"

Hui Yu's expression turned serious; she dashed back to the living room and pulled out her phone to download offline short videos.

Li Cheng shook his head helplessly, walked into his study, and turned on his computer to search.

"British Library document S343… is it really a 【Divorce Deed】?"

In the early twentieth century, Marc Aurel Stein, a Hungarian-born Jew who later acquired British citizenship,

took advantage of the Eastern great power's poverty and weakness, entering the Western Regions four times between 1900 and 1931 under the guise of exploration, looting cultural relics.

He stole over ten thousand manuscripts and artifacts from the Mogao Caves.

In return, he received a string of honors from European nations: Honorary Citizen of the British Indian Empire, Senior Knight Commander of the Indian Empire, Hungarian Cross of Merit, Huxley Medal, Campbell Memorial Prize, and more.

To this day, his portrait still hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in London and the Manchester City Art Gallery.

From race to nationality to conduct—he was the epitome, beyond epitome. Perfectly matched the stereotype.

In short, the British Library's document S343, the 【Divorce Deed】 scroll, was one of the artifacts stolen by Stein from the Dunhuang Library Cave.

It was a Tang Dynasty divorce certificate, containing the words: "Resolve grievances, release bonds, no longer hate each other; part ways amicably, each find joy. Three years' food and clothing, I offer you gentle rites. May you, Madam, live ten thousand autumns and a thousand springs."

Not a single word, not a single character, not a single detail is wrong!

It demonstrates the couple divorced peacefully—indeed, as late as the late Tang, Five Dynasties, and early Song, men and women still enjoyed relative freedom in marriage.

Li Cheng leaned back in his chair, lost in thought.

Divorce agreement. Celestial Court Lawyer. Could this task involve filing a divorce lawsuit for the gods? Was it Dong Yong betraying the Seventh Fairy, or Zhinü cheating on Niulang?

Given the task type is team deathmatch, it will inevitably split into two or more factions—perhaps one side is the plaintiff's lawyer, the other the defendant's lawyer.

Thinking of this, Li Cheng leaned forward, pressed close to the computer, and downloaded every legal document related to divorce litigation, ancient and modern, domestic and foreign, along with court judgments.

Through his friend communication channel, Yuan Zhixia also informed him of her preparations—

The Special Affairs Bureau's think tank analyzed potential task scenarios, urgently convened a group of historians, prosecutors, judges, and lawyers with appropriate clearance, and held an online meeting. In less than four hours, they compiled a thick binder of notes.

Over a thousand pages, prioritizing excess over omission.

Four hours passed in the blink of an eye. Li Cheng, fully prepared, lay in a bathtub filled with water, clutching the photocopy, silently awaiting teleportation.

His current data:

【Deadly Gambler·Master Pi Fu】

【Lv18, EXP: 1028/1800】

【Strength: 10】

【Agility: 10】

【Intelligence: 12】

【Constitution: 12】 (New Human: +1) (Common Man's Fury: +1)

【Perception: 12】

【Charisma: 5】 (Barbecue Enthusiast: -1)

【Equipment Slot: Two-Yi Knife, Assembled Doll, Proof of the Odd Mechanist, Holographic Bone Corridor, Bat-Hook Claw Gun, Skill Mobility USB, Information Synthesis Goggles, Flag of Steel and Victory, Ape Regression Gun, Technological Singularity Device】

【Inventory Slot: Suicide Notebook, Automated 3D Warehouse, Achilles Toy Factory Key, Ten-Ingredient Supreme Pill*5, Ten-Eye Communication Earpiece, Emergency Escape Card, Electronic Pet Egg, Shark-Hound Single Soldier Exoskeleton, Bat-Wing Weight Armored Motorcycle, Avenger Cannon, Erotic Dao Robe】

【Skill Slot: Mist Concealment Technique, Multi-Thread Brain Domain Method, Experience Roleplay Method, Instant Thunder, Familiar Swap, Qi Condensation Internal Explosion Fist, Riding the Tide's Furious Waves, Solid Rock Rooting Technique, Death Curse Torrent (Temporary), Brain Entropy Extraction (Temporary), Bloodlust Draught (Temporary), Leopard Leap Double Jump (Temporary), Medium Auto-Aim Gravity Energy Ball (Temporary), Summoning Technique·Thousand Paper Cranes (Temporary), Summoning Technique·Estate Guardians*2】

【Game Currency: 4049】

【Spirit Power: 650】

【Sanity: 410】 (Barbecue Enthusiast: +120) (Helicopter Destroyer: +30)

【Gray Rain: Skill Spirit Stealth Strike, Equipment Skull-Shattering Power Hammer】

(End of Chapter)