Chapter 1354 1354: 1354 Divine Game: Graveyard of Bones 76

"Think about how you became the BS Adjudicator."

Rita replied in her mind, "Where did you hear that? Or is this something your program calculated?"

B80 said, "Experience gained from working with BS Shadow.Q."

Rita: ???

B80 continued, "Whenever she promotes someone or gives them a raise, she requires them to compile all their contributions and work into a report. Only after reviewing it does she sign off."

Rita: "..."

Shadow.Q makes everyone else write reports all day. Yet when asked to write one herself, she acts like it will kill her.

Rita did not think Order Clock would be that rigid.

Right then, it struck 2 o'clock.

Part of the deep blue starlight gathered into a ring-shaped Starsea, while Quiet Mountain drifted outside it. The pendulum, which had been wrapped at the center by the starlight, began to swing, announcing the hour.

Each swing struck Starsea with devastating force. Countless fragments turned into flames, flared briefly before their eyes, and then vanished completely.

Clang. Clang.

Once. Twice.

The pendulum's arc grew smaller until it finally stopped.

The three of them silently stared at the Starsea on the verge of collapse, unable to speak.

There were fewer fragments now, but the remaining ones shone more brightly than before.

Rita slowly reached her hand into the nearly collapsing Starsea.

Memories of how she became the BS Adjudicator surfaced in her mind, stopping at BS's repeated, helpless sighs.

"Why don't you love your world?"

"Since faith, responsibility, status, and reputation cannot truly move you, then from now on, BS is yours."

A BS Adjudicator mark appeared in Rita's palm. It was the same mark that would shine in the air whenever she descended upon another world, announcing her arrival to that entire world.

The leader shares glory and disgrace with the world. The ruler lives and dies with it.

Yet she, someone who did not love her own world, had become its Adjudicator.

Once, late at night in her study while handling BS affairs, BS had asked her, "Rita, do you like BS now?"

Her answer had been, "That question has no meaning."

BS refused to give up and kept asking. So Rita gave a cruel but honest assumption.

"I became Adjudicator because BS was in despair at the time.

"Now that BS has left the invasion sequence, for those who cannot see the truth of the world, the war is already far away. If there were another vote now, I would never become Adjudicator again. That's who we are."

BS had replied, "No wonder the gods call you arrogant. Even after receiving so much admiration and reverence, you still do not trust their sincerity. You think their choice back then was forced by circumstance. But I must say, you underestimate your place in their hearts."

The Adjudicator mark in her palm lit up. A distant, ethereal voice echoed in her mind.

[Six-star BS Adjudicator detected. Eligible to exchange for Starsea special merit]

[The leader shares glory and disgrace with the world. The ruler lives and dies with it. The Adjudicator is born from despair]

[Adjudicator merit exchange in progress...]

[Order Clock is initiating a second Adjudicator vote for BS humanity...]

[Vote initiated: As the war nears its end, do you wish for BS Rita to continue as "BS Adjudicator"? From this moment on, BS's fortune, glory, and survival will be tied to her. Every adult human has veto power]

When she heard "the Adjudicator is born from despair," Rita let out a quiet laugh, as if she had heard something amusing.

But the smile quickly faded.

A second vote. And Order Clock had deliberately added the vague phrase "as the war nears its end."

Rita's brows rose high. After a few breaths, she let out a soft laugh, closed her eyes, and allowed the blue starlight to pass gently through her hand.

Back then, BS had pushed players to agree with something close to "if she doesn't become Adjudicator, everyone dies."

Now Order Clock was doing something similar.

Only the effect was reversed.

Mistblade and Maple Syrup did not understand what was happening. But from BS Rita's momentary shock, they knew she had found the secret. It just did not look promising.

BS's voice arrived late, echoing in Rita's mind. But this time, it was not here to warn her.

[BS Rita, are you still willing to die for BS?]

"You still like asking meaningless questions."

Far away in BS, a voting window appeared before everyone. The Yes and No buttons were greyed out for now, as if forcing everyone to think carefully before deciding.

Then voices rang out across the sky of BS.

One was the familiar system notification. The other was the calm yet gentle voice of the BS Adjudicator. The same voice that had once commanded them to keep fighting until she died on the battlefield.

[BS Rita, are you still willing to die for BS?]

"You still like asking meaningless questions."

[I just want to know how important BS is to you.]

"That's not your usual tone. This conversation can be heard by others, can't it? You're trying to help me. You want me to explain what BS means to me. You want to hear what I'm willing to give. You're worried I won't become Adjudicator a second time."

[...]

"There's a mistake in your question."

[What mistake?]

"You should be asking how important I, BS Rita, am to BS. What my existence means to it.

"Whether in Unordered Starsea or Quiet Mountain, I am the strongest. During war, as long as I'm alive, BS will be fine. When the war ends, my presence ensures that any player bearing the name BS will not be bullied.

"So you shouldn't worry about whether I can become Adjudicator again. You should worry whether BS can keep me."

After a moment of silence, players began slamming their votes.

Agree, agree, agree!

Smoke Tune also heard the voices in the sky. What did it mean, becoming Adjudicator a second time?

She stood by her sports car holding a freshly bought coffee, trying to make sense of it, when she noticed nearby humans furiously tapping at something in the air with twisted expressions.

She walked over and tapped one of them on the shoulder. "Excuse me, is there some kind of voting event going on?"

The person kept tapping rapidly. "Yeah, the Adjudicator is about to run away! How can we allow that?"

Smoke Tune: ???

A passerby nearby added, "Exactly. If our number one gets taken away, what do we do? Look at the kinds of races she keeps bringing back to BS. Vineborne, Moonfox, Owlfolk... if they're not pretty, she doesn't even bother. I swear she's going to get stolen away by some beautiful alien race sooner or later!"

A crab passing by suddenly stopped. It lifted its head and shot the speaker a resentful look with its tiny black eyes.