Chapter 990: Brave Fang Yue, Unafraid of Challenges (3rd update, asking for monthly tickets)

A chill ran through Fang Yue's heart — the feeling was far too unpleasant.

He hesitated, then asked, "But I don't feel anything right now."

Meiyu Xianzi gave a light laugh: "Everything is accelerating. The day you actually feel something, the End will be close at hand."

Fang Yue clenched his fists. He didn't want to die — and certainly not such a stifling death.

"Is there really no way?"

"Once, when I learned the truth, I was just as lost and helpless as you, madly searching for a way to save myself, even losing myself several times over. But later, someone said to me…"

【I will save you, so you don't need to think about saving yourself! I will definitely find a way to save you! So you can live freely, live happily, live however you wish — no longer tormented by these painful thoughts. Leave everything to me!】

Those words from back then surfaced in Meiyu Xianzi's heart. The departing figure of that young man remained deep within her, never fading even a shade.

Wanfa… are you still alive…

"What did someone say to you?" Fang Yue looked, puzzled, at Meiyu Xianzi, who had suddenly fallen silent. She merely shook her head slightly.

"It's nothing. As someone who's been through it, most of my experience is useless to you. It may be difficult, but you'll likely need to find your own path. King of Breakers — I look forward to your future."

Fang Yue fell silent.

He lowered his head and asked himself: could he sacrifice himself for the life and death of all those other humans?

The answer was no. He could strive for those close to him, but he could not sacrifice himself for such a grand cause.

Raising his head, Fang Yue looked at Meiyu Xianzi.

"I want to live."

"Then work hard to find a way to live. But as the King of Breakers, sometimes things don't go as you wish. I won't force you to do anything, but I believe you'll make the choice yourself when the moment comes."

"…"

Fang Yue clenched his fists.

"Then there's one more thing I want to ask clearly. I already know about the Lock Master and the Heavenly Lock — so what role does the System play in all this? Why did it kick me out of the game the moment I mentioned the Heavenly Lock?"

"The System? I know very little about it myself, but someone once told me it's nothing more than a parasite."

"A parasite? What do you mean?"

"I don't know. The person who told me that — no one knows where they are now. If you could find them someday, you might get your answer."

"That person's name?"

"Wanfa."

The moment Meiyu Xianzi's words fell, she had already withdrawn that pale-blue membrane. The people around them, as if their five senses had suddenly returned, had no idea what had just happened.

Wanfa?!

While Fang Yue was still stunned by the possible connection between Meiyu Xianzi and Wanfa, the parchment's voice suddenly rang in his mind, sounding utterly confused.

【Eh? The old witch… I mean, Sister Meiyu — did she just do something? Why do I feel so weird?】

It seemed Meiyu Xianzi had blocked not only the people around them, but even the parchment.

But the parchment was, after all, a strange artifact bound to his soul, so it had sensed something was off.

Glancing at Meiyu Xianzi, who was unwilling to say more and preparing to leave with the Alliance members, Fang Yue gave the parchment a perfunctory response in his heart, then hurried after her.

"Senior Meiyu, there's one more thing I'd like to ask your help with!"

"Go ahead. If it's too troublesome, I may not be able to help — I'm racing against time myself and need to start moving."

As Meiyu Xianzi spoke, inside the Experimental Pod behind her, a bare-chested man with long red hair slowly rose.

"Ah… what a long nap."

That long-haired, strikingly handsome man looked toward Meiyu Xianzi.

"I heard your summons, Lady Meiyu."

After him, more and more Immortals inside the Experimental Pod gradually awakened and rose!

Jiang Wanchun, President of the Alliance, stared wide-eyed and tumbled to the ground in fright.

He had made many contingency preparations for the awakening of the Cheaters, but seeing so many Cheaters awaken at once still terrified him, leaving him momentarily at a loss.

Under the gaze of the many Cheaters, Meiyu Xianzi looked at Fang Yue.

The latter spoke firmly and steadily.

"I want… to go back into the game!"

……

Jianghai City, Jianghai.

Beneath the Blood Moon, on the surging sea, three figures floated.

One was a woman in flowing immortal robes, one was a bare-chested long-haired man, and the last, by contrast, looked plain and unremarkable.

What drew attention was that all three of them were floating above the sea!

Before the three of them hung a mark resembling a shattered mirror, suspended in mid-air above the sea.

The mark was roughly three meters tall. Looking through the rift, one could see thick black mist seeping out from within.

"So this is the largest spatial fragment nearby."

Young Master Chi asked coldly.

"Based on the Alliance's intel, this should be it."

Fang Yue glanced at Young Master Chi, feeling that this man, apart from toward Meiyu Xianzi, carried an eerie coldness toward everyone else.

And this man was the second-in-command of the Cheater organization.

"Alright, we're short on time — let's get this done quickly. But as agreed before, I can guarantee your safe passage through the spatial tunnel, but what comes after is anyone's guess. You might face a land full of anomalies, or a death zone like an abyss… but if things go as I suspect, things will get very interesting."

Meiyu Xianzi said with a faint smile.

As long as the topic wasn't related to 【Heaven Devouring】, Meiyu Xianzi's mood remained quite good.

"Senior Meiyu, Senior Chi, thank you for your help. If I make it back alive, I will surely lend you a hand."

"I'm looking forward to it, little fellow."

Meiyu Xianzi said with a giggle.

Fang Yue had originally wanted to invite Meiyu Xianzi and these other immortals, to return to the game, to return to Qing Guo and help him resolve the trouble over in Jingcheng.

With these reinforcements, Fang Yue had tremendous confidence that he could solve every difficulty currently facing him inside the game.

However…

"We can't, you see. We are cheaters, the remnants of the previous game. From the moment the closed beta ended, we've had no way to use the 【Game Watch】 — or rather the Ghost Thread — to return to the game in that fashion — that world is rejecting us, and this is the price of being a cheater.

But if 【Heaven Devouring】 descends, the situation will be different. Our world and that world will merge with one another, the rules will no longer be distinct, and we cheaters will no longer be excluded from the rules."

(End of this chapter)