Chapter 271: Apologizing by Exposing Your Belly Is Common Sense

Seeing the charred remains before him—more than half of the origami house reduced to blackened ash—the Painter's psyche shattered.

Despite his best efforts to salvage it, he could preserve only the most basic structure; the origami house, its core severely damaged, had not only lost all its accumulated progress bar but also dropped in rank to B-class.

With the origami domain damaged, all the paper figures he had amassed were reduced to ashes.

The Painter couldn't understand: Wu Chang had clearly not sensed the origami house's existence—so why had his attack followed the paper figures to strike the origami house's very source?

He couldn't understand either why, the instant the origami house was attacked, the bond between them severed, preventing him from sensing the anomaly immediately and redirecting the damage back to himself.

If time could rewind, even if given a hundred chances, he would choose to bear that damage himself instead of letting the origami house suffer it.

Now, for a short while—no, for a very long time—the origami house would be unusable.

Wu Chang, having used the Mamba Iron Elbow, felt his thoughts clear and his temperature drop, but according to the law of conservation of energy, the red heat didn't vanish—it merely transferred to the Painter.

The Painter wanted revenge on Wu Chang, but without the origami house, he couldn't even evade Wu Chang's keen perception—he'd likely be detected by the Earthly Divine Nation the moment he stepped into Wanghai City.

Expose Wu Chang's real-world identity?

The thought surfaced only briefly before the Painter dismissed it.

With Wu Chang's strength, even if his identity were exposed, no one in the Wasteland Realm could threaten him; once the Earthly Divine Nation activated, even a nuclear strike couldn't breach the divine barrier.

Exposing Wu Chang would bring him at most minor inconveniences—nothing more.

Moreover, judging from Peace's current actions, Wu Chang, like himself, had no intention of deeply aligning with any side, and would inevitably draw the attention of the Light Society, triggering conflict.

Exposing Wu Chang, forcing him into the public eye prematurely, might drive him straight into the arms of one of the Four Organizations or the Light Society—costing the Painter the hard-won opportunity he'd waited for, and creating a new powerful enemy out of nowhere.

The Painter sighed; he suddenly realized he had no real means to retaliate against Wu Chang.

Trading the origami house for the Wasteland Gateway? This deal was a massive loss.

He turned to the paper servant still standing at the door, awaiting orders, "Speak. What new intelligence have you received?"

The paper servant said: "The informant at Bai Ta has relayed word: during the recent resolution of the Hymn Corporation's dungeon, the Iron Armor Clan used leaves and branches of the World Tree to guide Light Society members to descend—including Joy."

"Just as Joy was about to secure the object, Peace clashed with Joy, directly killing Joy's descended avatar and seizing control of the Hymn Corporation dungeon. The high echelons of the Four Organizations have concluded: avoid provoking Peace for the time being, and expedite Peace's entry into the Rational Realm."

Upon hearing this, the Painter's first reaction was, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

The paper servant: "..."

The paper servant, lacking a soul, would have punched the Painter hard twice if she had one.

The Painter realized it was his own mistake; he chuckled bitterly and waved his hand, "I understand. Leave."

He should have left Wanghai City the moment he obtained the Wasteland Gateway—never should he have provoked Wu Chang.

Regret. Profound regret.

He stared at the charred origami house and smiled bitterly, "Even Joy got crushed by that kid—why on earth did you go after him?"

Wanghai City, Emotion Art Museum.

Wu Chang had only intended to elbow the Painter as a lesson—he may go by "NoBeef" in-game, but he wasn't a vegetarian.

But he hadn't expected that with one elbow, Lu Langfeng before him didn't spurt blood—he burst into flames instead.

Not just Lu Langfeng—many artworks hanging on the walls of the Emotion Art Museum also fell to the ground from his elbow, twisting into human shapes before igniting.

Among the burning silhouettes, he saw the male art student who had earlier led him into the studio.

These artworks were all fake people controlled by the Painter.

Before Wu Chang could even react, the entire Emotion Art Museum ignited. He saw the museum radiating various emotions through the flames—emotions that merged, eventually crystallizing into pain and fear, then dissolving into nothing.

He escaped before the museum became a sea of fire, standing on the street outside, watching the blazing structure—utterly bewildered as the instigator.

Did I do this?

Did my spirit possession just bring over the fire from Los Angeles at four a. m.?

Though he didn't fully understand what had happened, his intuition told him his elbow had caused far more pain than intended.

All-Knowing Crystal—was this also part of your plan?

Wu Chang watched the fire, uncontainable even by firefighters, and grew even more eager to activate the All-Knowing Crystal.

The Emotion Art Museum burned for two hours, reduced entirely to ash—nothing remained. The museum's owner, Lu Langfeng, was missing.

Wanghai City's biggest internet-famous attraction ending in such a scene triggered widespread public outcry and prompted a citywide special campaign on fire safety.

But these were all afterthoughts; Wu Chang paid no attention—though whenever countless merchants cursed Lu Langfeng while enduring fire safety training, he'd occasionally sneeze.

Almost simultaneously with the Emotion Art Museum's ignition, the corruption dungeon beneath the Administration Bureau shattered completely; Wu Chang and Xiang Jianxing returned to the fifth basement level.

Xiang Jianxing and the others were unaware of the final time-stopping moment of the dungeon's collapse—whether because the dungeon had been specially designed by the Painter to test Wu Chang, or because of the vast gap in their levels.

Once movement resumed, Director Gao rushed immediately to the elevator, leading the group down to the sixth basement level.

This was Wu Chang's first time entering the sixth basement level. Unlike his imagined cold, oppressive containment cells, the sixth level was elegantly arranged—exhibit cases designed with striking aesthetics, combining secure preservation with beauty, like a meticulously curated museum.

The only flaw was its emptiness—several display cases held only labels, no physical objects inside.

Looking at the barren sixth basement level, Director Gao let out the Painter's signature wail.

"No!"

The disappearance of the Wasteland Gateway shattered Director Gao's composure; in the past, such an event would have left him depressed for months—after all, it had been the Wanghai Branch's largest source of revenue.

But now, he adjusted his mindset in mere minutes.

Director Gao gave Wu Chang a meaningful glance, patted his shoulder, then, with a hint of schadenfreude, ordered everyone back to the surface to check for other damages.

Wu Chang scratched his head, puzzled by Director Gao—was this meant as comfort? What did it mean?

The subsequent investigation was simple: the Painter didn't care about the Wanghai Branch and acted without concealment, never avoiding surveillance cameras.

Thanks to the Painter's "open and aboveboard" conduct, the entire sequence of events was clarified in under an hour.

Combining footage of the wild transcenders manipulated by the Painter, everyone quickly reached a conclusion: from the very beginning, the Painter's target had been the Wasteland Gateway on the sixth basement level.

Many of these wild transcenders had been controlled by the Painter without their knowledge, their bodies implanted with the Painter's abilities.

The Painter manipulated them to cause chaos everywhere, drawing the Wanghai Branch's attention, then used unknown methods to hide their implanted abilities from detection, allowing them to enter the underground.

Once sufficient energy had accumulated, Yu Siyi—completely brainwashed and controlled—served as the final trigger, activating the pre-placed power to shatter the Administration Bureau's spatial seals, allowing the Painter to descend bodily.

After clarifying the full story, everyone at the Haiwang Branch sighed in relief.

The Painter entering the Bureau's underground was not due to negligence by their staff, but because of a flaw in the Bureau's internal detection system—the problem was found, and it was entirely the General Bureau's faulty detection design.

Not only did they shift the blame, but Director Gao also intended to file a formal complaint, demanding compensation from the General Bureau for Haiwang Branch's losses.

Even if they couldn't compensate them with a Worldgate, at least something of comparable value.

What, you're saying Haiwang Branch bears no responsibility at all? Don't make me laugh—that's the Painter, a monster even the Four Organizations couldn't defeat. In facing the Painter's attack, Haiwang Branch not only successfully defended the safety of Haiwang City, but achieved the miracle of zero casualties.

Responsibility? Achievements!

Claim credit—must claim it fiercely.

After reviewing surveillance footage, another issue arose.

Since the actions of those wild transcenders were all guided and manipulated by the Painter, they should be sentenced leniently.

For individuals like Xie Wei, who caused no serious harm, once their mental state is confirmed restored, they may be released immediately.

Those sentenced harshly and slated to be cannon fodder in high-difficulty projection dungeons should also have their charges reduced, given a chance at redemption.

The only difficult case was Yu Siyi.

Yu Siyi's actions were extremely heinous; even if she was deceived and manipulated by the Painter, theoretically she still merits one chance at redemption—if she survives her exploration and accumulates sufficient merit, she may choose to join the Bureau as a special non-standard personnel.

But something unexpected happened to Yu Siyi: she completely forgot Lu Langfeng, and everything she had done; more importantly, a powerful force had awakened within her.

This force was so unusual that Professor Shi Ning took notice, and wished to transfer Yu Siyi to Yanjing to assist his research.

!

Director Gao and others couldn't discern Yu Siyi's ability, but Wu Chang saw clearly—after being abandoned by the Painter, Yu Siyi had, like Fang Hui, awakened the Root Force.

Unlike Fang Hui's Desire Root, Yu Siyi's awakened Root was Love.

A natural genius possessing the Root Force—this talent alone is enough to erase all her past misdeeds.

Especially since she was brainwashed and controlled by the evil Painter, and now remembers nothing at all.

After negotiations and exchanges of interests, Director Gao finally agreed to send Yu Siyi to Yanjing; that same night, she was secretly taken away by helicopter, without delay.

On the helicopter, Yu Siyi huddled in the corner, head bowed, her expression filled with panic and helplessness.

But when she lowered her head, her eyes shimmered with pink hearts, brimming with affection.

Mr. Lu, I won't forget you so easily—I will find you. But first, I must grow stronger. When we meet again, I won't let you slip away from me so easily.

The Painter, who was trying to repair the origami cottage, felt a chill down his back, vaguely sensing he was being watched by something foul.

After a frantic night of work, the Haiwang Branch finally completed all cleanup.

Though the losses were severe, their opponent was the Painter—losing to him wasn't shameful; surviving was success.

Director Gao turned mourning into celebration, taking the exhausted staff who had worked until late into the night to a restaurant for a small victory banquet.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of dishes.

Full and satisfied, Director Gao suddenly remembered something—he smacked his forehead and asked Lei Huo beside him: "Why hasn't the Wanderer from the Realm of Reason arrived yet?"

Lei Huo, looking baffled, opened his phone and said: "He hasn't contacted me either. Could the Wanderer have some urgent matter and bypassed Haiwang City?"

Director Gao whispered: "Could he be deliberately targeting our Order Faction?"

Lei Huo whispered back: "Hard to say."

At the table, Wu Chang kept his head down, stuffing his mouth, suppressing the urge to speak—he wanted to tell them that, before the Emotion Art Museum was fully cleared, they should search inside; perhaps they could analyze the Wanderer's composition.

During the victory banquet, whether intentionally or not, Director Gao pushed Wu Chang to the forefront, elaborately describing his process in conquering the Corruption Dungeon and lavishing praise.

He also combined intelligence returned by Zhao Yan to further extol Wu Chang's meticulousness.

Throughout the entire meal, Wu Chang was the absolute center of attention.

Even Wu Chang's thick skin couldn't withstand the praise—he grew embarrassed.

Director Gao, stop praising me—I'll start thinking you have some ulterior motive.

After the banquet, Wu Chang returned home and, upon entering the Inner World, saw Ailin waiting for him.

She wasn't waiting while binge-watching a drama—she sat on the sofa, lost in thought, specifically waiting for him.

Wu Chang shook his head and asked: "Still blaming yourself?"

Ailin said: "I feel I held you back. You went to great lengths to help me obtain the Above-Ground Divine Realm, but I couldn't even hold onto it."

"If that man truly escaped and spread word of the Above-Ground Divine Realm, it could bring you trouble."

"I'm wondering if I should force myself to be harder… like…"

Before Ailin finished speaking, Wu Chang covered her mouth with his hand, interrupting her spell.

In such a moment, a mouth might've been more suitable—but after witnessing Ailin's Hammer in the Light and Shadow Art, he restrained himself.

"Everyone has their own thoughts, their own weaknesses—that's what makes us unique individuals. You don't need to force yourself to change; just be yourself."

"You have brilliance and flaws, strengths and weaknesses—that's what it means to be truly human. I want you beside me as Ailin, not as a cold-blooded killer."

"The dirty work is mine to handle."

Ailin, in the midst of an emotional outburst, looked at Wu Chang with tears of gratitude.

Wu Chang cleared his throat and added: "If you really feel guilty, there is a way to apologize."

Ailin asked: "What way?"

Wu Chang's gaze drifted, avoiding eye contact: "Here, showing your belly is common knowledge for an apology."

"Huh?"

Ailin's cheeks flushed slightly; after a pause, she lifted her hem, revealing a lean, taut abdomen with visible abs.

Wu Chang hadn't expected her to actually comply—he should've said "higher up."

He reached out and touched Ailin's abdomen: "Now, I'll test how sincere your apology is."

The answer: very sincere. Wu Chang squeezed several times, even pinched the ticklish side flesh—Ailin didn't resist.

Unfortunately, her sincerity didn't go further.

While Wu Chang was trying to unlock more areas, Eileen took out the Light of Resolve.

The You Feipeng incident served as a wake-up call for Wu Chang: before players on the second layer of the Abyss, the not-yet-fully-stabilized Surface Divine Kingdom still had flaws.

So he stayed three more days in Wanghai City, and as the "Unstable Divine Kingdom Core" status completely vanished, the Surface Divine Kingdom stabilized and merged as one with Wanghai City.

Now, let alone You Feipeng, even a lesser deity with higher divinity than Eileen would not be able to tell that Wanghai City was shrouded by a Surface Divine Kingdom.

After all this was done, Wu Chang glanced at the calendar—it was time to go to the underground shelter and retrieve Dawn's weight.

(End of chapter)