Chapter 165: Zhang Meili Is Not Pleased

The Secret Room went dark.

Strangely enough, the Secret Room turning pitch black indicated that Cao Xiu had lied. Logically, the three Three-Star Players could have immediately Judgment-killed Cao Xiu, or at the very least, used a Skill.

Yet none of the three used a Skill.

In the darkness.

Diwu Zeyi explained, "Two-Star Players stuck at a bottleneck can use Downward Compatibility to enter a One-Star Instance. It is hard for them to run into Three-Star Players, but they will frequently encounter other Two-Star Players. Those who manage to survive are almost always the cream of the crop among Two-Stars."

"His IQ isn't as high as we imagined, which means his Skill is likely ridiculously powerful, or perhaps..."

"Extremely bizarre!"

These words were clearly meant for Chen Ran to hear.

The underlying meaning was obvious: hurry up and use Eternal Kingdom to break his Skill.

'Cao Xiu's Skill has a hidden trap. He deliberately warned me before using it.'

'From the first Secret Room until now, he seems to have been showing goodwill towards me.'

'Earlier, he also tried to latch onto Diwu Zeyi. Is he placing bets on both sides?'

The Secret Room regained its illumination.

The moment Cao Xiu's figure reappeared in their line of sight—swish, swish, swish...

Eight gun barrels were aimed squarely at him.

None of them carried out a Judgment. They carefully observed their surroundings, only to find that nothing had changed.

One by one, they frowned.

However, when they looked at the share composition of Company No. 6, their pupils constricted.

Company No. 9...

Held a 3% stake!

'Shouldn't it be 14.5%?'

"Ghost Whisperer: Silent Seal!"

Long Hui's deep voice rang out, and immediately after, everyone discovered in shock...

The Secret Room did not turn dark!

Chen Ran furrowed his brows.

'Since Cao Xiu used a Skill, it's 100% certain that he lied.'

'However, Long Hui failed to use his Skill, which means Cao Xiu did not lie.'

'Reset to Zero...'

'Before using the Skill, Cao Xiu lied. After using the Skill, Cao Xiu did not lie.'

'Previously, Cao Xiu held 6% of the shares in Company No. 6. After being diluted, it became 3%, and then he chose to go all-in, turning it into 14.5%.'

'But now, it is back to 3%.'

'This means Cao Xiu's Skill erased his mistaken operation of going all-in on Company No. 6 in the past.'

'With the mistaken operation erased, the outcome changed, meaning it was impossible for him to be forced into telling a lie and using his Skill.'

'It's causality!'

A chill ran down Chen Ran's spine at this realization.

Earlier, he had been wondering how Mei Zhixu managed to casually pick two Cannon Fodder players who turned out to be so formidable.

'Cao Xiu's identity...'

'Is definitely not simple!'

'There is a high probability that Cao Xiu was planted in my team by the Floor Masters of other floors in the Liar-Slayer Alliance building, using Mei Zhixu as an intermediary.'

'In other words, Cao Xiu is a Reserve Teammate of a certain Floor Master.'

'Judging from how the First Floor Master tried to force Qiu Yinong to become his Reserve Teammate, it means the Skills of every Floor Master's Reserve Teammates are either absurdly strong or incredibly bizarre.'

'This inversely proves that Cao Xiu, possessing a causality-type Skill, is very likely a Reserve Teammate for some Floor Master.'

'To hide so deeply?'

'As expected, ascendants who overcame countless hardships ultimately became just one of the hundred thousand celestial soldiers deployed to siege the Monkey King. No matter how powerful their Skills, they still could not escape the brutal environment of Hell.'

'The matchmaking mechanism is already brutal enough, yet there's also the suppression and subjugation from the Floor Masters.'

'No wonder the maximum is only ten stars. In this kind of environment, it is incredibly difficult for a Newbie to grow.'

'It seems the youths who set out to slay the dragon have ultimately become dragons themselves.'

'That makes sense. Even Qiu Yinong and I know that standing still is just waiting for death; how could those Floor Masters not know?'

'They will certainly do everything in their power to suppress the growth of Players with higher intelligence, stronger Skills, and greater talent.'

A flash of exhaustion crossed Chen Ran's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by determination.

'The current situation is that the Floor Masters are all coming after Qiu Yinong, while the most difficult Instances are all targeting me.'

'She draws the enemy's fire in the 18th Level, and uses me as a human shield in the Instances.'

'Meanwhile, I use her as a shield in the 18th Level, and draw the fire within the Instances.'

'While pushing the danger level to the absolute max, we can also provide cross-cover for each other.'

'In a sense, as long as there are no survivors from our Instances and our fame continues to grow... everyone will believe Qiu Yinong is a True-Self Tier Skill owner, and a Deceiver's Tongue will be formed.'

'Which means, one day in the future, we will be able to use our Skills without anyone having to tell a lie!'

'After this Instance is over, I definitely need to review everything thoroughly and analyze the underlying logic.'

While Chen Ran was deep in thought.

Everyone noticed that no one had purchased Cao Xiu's vanished 11.5% stake.

'This means his Skill can only interfere with his own causality, not the overarching whole.'

'For instance, logically speaking, if Cao Xiu erased his mistaken operation of going all-in, that 11.5% of shares should have been snatched up by other companies in the past timeline; it couldn't possibly appear in the newly issued stocks.'

'This indicates that his Skill does not affect the past actions of other Players, but only those of the Skill owner.'

Having reasoned up to this point, the three Three-Star Players breathed a long sigh of relief, silently thanking their lucky stars that it was only a half-finished causality Skill.

If it had been a true causality Skill, the three Three-Star Players felt they might as well just surrender.

A true causality Skill was terrifying. Rumor had it that a certain past leader of the Liar-Slayer Alliance possessed a causality-type Skill. Every time he was on the brink of death, he would alter past causality. The past influenced the present and dictated the future, completely changing his destined fate of being executed by Judgment. Even the fates of those caught in the crossfire would be fundamentally altered.

For example, an opponent might originally be destined for smooth sailing. But after being hit by the Skill, the Butterfly Effect would turn their path into a rocky one, potentially causing them to perish early on in their journey so they never even appeared before you at all.

'Now that I think about it, it makes perfect sense. Cao Xiu is highly likely the Reserve Teammate of a Floor Master.'

'If he had a genuine causality Skill, how could he possibly be reduced to someone else's Reserve Teammate?'

'Reserve Teammate is just a nice way of putting it. Simply put, he's just Cannon Fodder.'

'Killing someone with this kind of half-baked causality Skill is actually quite simple.'

'First: Chen Ran uses Eternal Kingdom to shatter his Skill.'

'Second: Create a mistaken operation that he cannot undo. In simple terms, set up a certain-death trap for him.'

The three exchanged glances, all understanding each other's intentions, and couldn't help but crack a faint smile.

Right on cue, a ready-made opportunity presented itself. Since Cao Xiu evaded his mistaken operation, Zhang Meili was now caught in a dilemma...

As long as she copied Cao Xiu and told a lie that only she knew, the other Players could only confirm she was lying if she used a Skill.

In other words, the moment Zhang Meili used a Skill, Chen Ran would know she had lied.

Which meant he could then use his Skill.

At that point, Cao Xiu's Skill would be broken, sealing his doom. The crucial factor lay in:

Would Chen Ran use his Skill?

This was also the very reason Cao Xiu had warned Chen Ran before using his Skill.

'Tsk, tsk, Eternal Kingdom... this Skill truly is miraculous...'

'If word of this got out, the line of people wanting to kill Chen Ran in the 18th Level would probably stretch around it eighteen times.'

'Skills upgraded through painstaking effort, or powerful Skills obtained through sheer luck—no matter what they were or how strong they were, a single Eternal Kingdom from Chen Ran could wipe out all their advantages, instantly sending them back to square one.'

'How could that not draw people's hatred?'

Everyone harbored their own ulterior motives. Li Zhitong also tucked his Liar-Slayer away. Zhou Chen said even less, simply shutting his mouth and closing his eyes, adopting an attitude of complete indifference. In the end, a world where only Zhang Meili suffered had been achieved.

If cursing were allowed, she would have absolutely started swearing. Weren't they just playing her for a fool?

She slowly raised her middle finger at Cao Xiu, thought for a moment, and then raised it at Chen Ran as well.