Chapter 355: Three Questions (4/15, Autumn Subscription)

According to Bai Daoren of the Shadow, there was once a closed beta before the game.

The former owner of the parchment, known as the 【Cheater】, was a closed beta player.

She must have known the parchment's abilities—where is the Cheater now? What is their relationship with the Alliance? Was she turned into a vegetative state by the Alliance, which is why she never revealed the parchment's true power to them?

For a moment, Fang Yue thought deeply.

It was the Alliance Chairman who, seeing Fang Yue remain silent, spoke slowly.

"As far as I know, the parchment is merely an anomalous artifact capable of predicting its holder's brief future."

"In terms of function, it transcends the mundane—classified as a Transcendent-level anomalous artifact. Although we were told it was a Rain-level anomalous artifact when acquired from the Cheater, our internal assessment later reclassified it as Transcendent-level."

"However, unlike its terrifying predictive function, the parchment offers no combat advantage whatsoever—at least according to the intelligence provided by the Cheater."

"But from the changes in you, I see another possibility—I want to know: has the parchment undergone some anomaly, or do you possess some unique quality?"

Fang Yue froze—so they considered it Transcendent-level solely because of its foresight ability?

So they truly know very little about the parchment.

And… the Cheater…

"What is your Alliance's relationship with the Cheater? How were anomalous artifacts taken out of the game? What did you use to interfere with the parchment's foresight?"

Hearing Fang Yue's questions, the Alliance Chairman blinked in surprise, then smiled.

"You know quite a bit."

"But why should I tell you? Unless—you're willing to exchange answers. I ask, you answer; you ask, I answer. One question each, how about it?"

Fang Yue fell silent, weighed the pros and cons, then shook his head.

"I won't answer any of your questions, and you don't need to answer mine. I want to join the Alliance, work for it, and in return, you protect my friends and family. That's the extent of our relationship."

"... You don't play by the rules. Fine—answer one question, and I'll answer you three."

Fang Yue had to admit he was tempted—"... Is your question still the same one?"

"No. I want to ask… did the parchment appear inside the game?"

Fang Yue:?!

His pupils contracted. After a moment of thought, he slowly nodded: "Yes, it did appear inside the game."

"Of course!"

The Alliance Chairman stared at Fang Yue in disbelief: "You've already formed a contract with the parchment! I never imagined the parchment would ultimately choose an outsider…"

Contract?

Fang Yue suddenly remembered—the parchment had always said her former owner was a vegetative patient, sleeping.

Fang Yue had always assumed the parchment was a heartless type, seamlessly swapping owners.

But now it seemed… the timeline between him and the parchment's former owner was not short.

Closed beta… by the way, when was this game's closed beta? No one ever mentioned it.

And from the Alliance Chairman's words, after the previous owner, the parchment had gone without a contract for a very long time!

No wonder the Alliance knew so little about the parchment.

"What changes occurred after the parchment formed a contract? Did its appearance differ inside and outside the game? What kind of help did it give you inside the game…"

Questions came in rapid succession, but Fang Yue remained unmoved, saying only: "It's your turn to answer my questions."

The Alliance Chairman fell silent, then said: "What do you want to ask?"

"The same three questions. First: what is your 【Alliance】's relationship with the 【Cheater】?"

"A cooperative relationship. The 【Cheater】 were the first to discover the Causality Lines. Through the closed beta, they gained transcendent power. Afterwards, they voluntarily fell into slumber and entrusted other matters to our 【Alliance】."

Fang Yue was stunned—he had always assumed the Cheater had been beaten into a vegetative state, but they had chosen to sleep voluntarily?

He couldn't help asking: "Slumber? Why slumber?"

The Alliance Chairman lifted the parchment: "Is that your second question?"

"... No, you don't need to answer that. Second question: how were anomalous artifacts taken out of the game?"

Yes—this was the key question!

Fang Yue fixed his gaze on the Alliance Chairman, who merely shrugged.

"It's simple. When the first closed beta ended, the game synchronized with reality. The Causality Lines emerged at that moment. The Cheater gained the game's abilities and also manifested a batch of 【anomalous artifacts】. These 【anomalous artifacts】 became the Alliance's original and greatest asset. Unfortunately, due to certain reasons, some leaked out and ended up in the hands of organizations like the Shadow."

The game… synchronized with reality?

And things from the game became real?

So it was all this simple?

Fang Yue suddenly felt cheated—the parchment demanded his lifespan to burn, while others got their powers for free!

But upon reflection, he found it acceptable—the Cheater only gained synchronized power at the exact moment the closed beta ended; before that, they were all ordinary people.

If this synchronization were likened to a river,

then the parchment's true function was smuggling.

Others, separated by the river, could only cross when the river dried up at that single instant—but the parchment allowed smuggling anytime, at a small cost, far surpassing contemporaries!

Its significance was obvious.

Moreover, the parchment had said that as the loopholes grew larger, its side effects diminished.

The loopholes must be the Causality Lines.

That means: the higher the Causality Lines, the less lifespan I must pay to synchronize.

For a moment, Fang Yue thought deeply.

Only after digesting this information did he ask his third question.

"Third question, Alliance Chairman—what did you use to interfere with the parchment's foresight?"

"... Our Alliance studied it. The parchment's foresight is actually Causality foresight—meaning, there must be cause and effect. If I block the effect, the parchment cannot predict. Such anomalous artifacts that block Causality are extremely rare. Coincidentally, I happen to have one."

President Qian took a wooden carving out of his pocket, shaped like a goldfish.

Strangely, while every other part was vivid and lifelike, the fish had only three scales, giving the whole thing an odd appearance.

"Strange Object 【Leaping the Dragon Gate】 — before this afternoon, it still had over a hundred scales. After meeting you, only three remain."

【Good heavens! I'm absolutely stunned!】

(End of chapter)