Chapter 568: Playoffs

" Bai Liu ---!!!"

The door slammed open, and Mu Sicheng burst in with a flourish, lifting Bai Liu up to make sure he was okay before he let out a long breath and collapsed onto the sofa: "...... I'm glad I'm not hurt."

"I told you Bai Liu is fine." Tang Erda, who followed, explained helplessly, "You were the only one of us who came out with an injury."

Noticing Bai Liu's questioning gaze, Liu Jiayi gave an OK gesture, "Don't worry about this guy, he's already been healed in the game, he's alive and well."

Muke closed the door with a smile, paused for a moment when he saw Spades sitting in front of Bai Liu, and then sat down as usual: "What about Georgia?"

Bai Liu explained the whole process of getting the soul note to the team.

"So that's it." Muke seemed to understand, "No wonder Georgia reacted so strongly."

"That's totally a tricked out soul note, isn't it?" Liu Jiayi was speechless, "And Bai Liu you really like to cheat children, cheat Georgia who trusts you so much, doesn't your conscience hurt?"

"It was a bit." Bai Liu honestly spreads his hands, "but at the point where he said he'd send his best friend gold, the conscience suddenly disappeared and there was no way it could hurt."

Liu Jiayi: "......"

What a frankly shameless man!

"But that's not an option." Tang Erda's temples popped as he listened, his head hurting as he rubbed them, " Georgia is the head of the Third Bureau, his soul notes aren't that easy to get, Bai Liu."

"What's wrong with that?" Mu Sicheng didn't feel anything at all, he leaned back on the sofa, relaxed, took an apple, tossed it twice and held it in his mouth, crossed one foot on the coffee table and spoke arrogantly, "If he took it, he took it, what else can he do to us!"

Bai Liu swept a calm glance at Mu Sicheng's feet resting on his coffee table, "Put them down."

"...... Oh." Mu Sicheng put it down honestly, holding an apple and eating it, his tone arrogant, "Big deal, we'll just fight, we're all just defeated!"

"It's okay in the game." Tang Erda looked up and explained seriously, "But not in reality."

"In addition to the power of the Third Bureau of the Bureau for the Treatment of Heretics, Georgia was also a former prince of Gloren, and although Gloren is now sunk, he still has a lot of political power in him that he can call upon, and as far as I understand, he can arm the Third Bureau with the standards of state protection, and he trains members of the Third Bureau in the same way that he trains confidential informants. "

"To have gotten all this armed equipment and cultivated this airtight heretical storage depot of the Third Bureau in a world where news circulates speaks volumes about his ability."

Mu Sicheng's expression grew heavy as he listened, his chewing mouth slowly moving: "Is ...... so horrible?"

"It's not just that." Tang Erda sighs helplessly, " Georgia has money on her hands, even we in the Heretics Authority are not sure of the amount."

"I had only heard that Georgia was rich and that he had a very substantial amount of gold on hand at first, but we all thought that refurbishing the three bureaus, building the floating islands and arming them was enough to spend all his savings, but from the recent feedback from Su Yang, that wasn't the case."

" Su Yang said that Georgia also helped to reimburse a sum of money for five buildings, which is not a small amount, and the fact that Georgia could easily take it means that he still has savings."

"How can he be so rich?!" Mu Sicheng wondered, "He's only a few years older than me, right, does it make sense to be so rich?!"

"Few people can come up with such a huge amount of money at any time, even my family can't take it easily ...... " Muke wistfully said, "The amount of money makes me think of an institution. "

Bai Liu looked over: "What institution?"

Muke replied, "The Land of Gold Trading Bank."

"Thanks Uncle Xie, ah, asking about this bank because I've suddenly become a bit interested in the president of this bank, I've heard he's a young and talented man and would like to meet him if I get the chance." Muke said with a smile on his face to the phone, "I've been thinking about starting a business lately, so it would be good to develop my contacts."

There was a hearty laugh from the other side: "It's good that junior has an idea, but the founder of this bank is not even available to us, so I'm sorry I can't help introduce you."

"Nothing, nothing." Muke smiled, "Just getting to know each other, too."

"To be clear, I do know something about it." The other side pondered for a while and spoke with a sigh, "A young man with a big background, I'm told."

"Ten years ago, there was a mysterious gold trading organisation, near the Gulo Sea, this organisation traded large amounts of gold outwards, with reasonable gold prices and pristine gold mines, and was considered a big trader of gold exports all over the world, but no one ever found the exact location of this organisation, and then one day, this organisation suddenly disappeared."

"Then shortly afterwards, a young man appeared at a bank who brought in a large amount of gold and used it as collateral to buy up many banks that were about to go bankrupt, and then used the gold as bank stock to set up the Land of Gold Trade Bank - a bank that only accepts gold as the general equivalent for everyone for trade, and the security was so ridiculously tight that there was never any loss of trade goods, so many of the great men were fond of using this bank as an intermediary office, and would also store all their family fortunes here."

"It is also one of the largest and most famous trading banks in the world."

"But with your family's business, it seems that few go through this bank, so why the sudden curiosity about this?"

Muke smiles and snorts: "I'm going to develop the overseas trade market recently."

"Quite all right." The other side smiled cheerfully, "I'll be waiting for your good news then."

Muke hangs up the phone and turns to the group of people waiting next to him: "It's almost certain that Georgia is the one who founded this bank."

Tang Erda looked a little strange as he glanced at Bai Liu, who was in deep thought next to him.

...... It turns out that this bank was established by Georgia.

The world line where Georgia became part of Bai six's team also had a bank that worked with Bai six to smuggle, also using gold as a general equivalent as collateral, and Muke used this line to move the smuggled heretics - Bai six collected the heretics, Muke sourced the merchants, Muke provided the protection. Georgia set up the bank to provide the medium of exchange and Daniel provided the protection of the arms along the way - it was a one-stop shop!

No wonder it's growing so fast!

"Is the head of such a bank ......" Bai Liu rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "very rich?"

"Yes." Muke nodded, "If Georgia really is the founder of this bank, then I can totally understand him coming up with that much money."

"And if I have his soul, won't I ...... " Bai Liu's tone gradually became meaningful.

Spades eyed him sharply, "Your lust for him is spilling out again!"

Bai Liu: "......"

Two days later.

The moment the phone alarm went off, Bai Liu reached out to press it, but was held down and pinned back by Spades, who hadn't opened his eyes yet. He held Bai Liu's hand and took the phone away, his voice a little lazy: "...... No game today, sleep."

Bai Liu struggled to get up from Spades' arms and reached for his phone, but was rolled over by Spades, who buried his head in Bai Liu's shoulder and bit him, causing Bai Liu to hiss.

Spades voice is muffled: "...... It's cold, don't get up, sleep some more."

Bai Liu's chest tightens as he nudges Spades, who doesn't move, and he realises that if he doesn't lounge in bed with the lizard, the lizard won't let himself get up easily.

"If you want to stay in bed, say it properly." Bai Liu eventually gave up the motion and looked at the ceiling, his tone calm, "Who taught you that you can say you're cold and stay in bed?"

Spades, a lizard whose body temperature is on the cold side, has sometimes rolled onto the floor and slept through the night before, he is more used to the cold.

This is usually what this lizard uses to trick Bai Liu into staying in bed after seeing some of the people around him and learning it.

Spades pauses: "...... Lu Yizhan says you don't have to get up early if it's cold."

Bai Liu understands.

It is indeed Lu Yizhan.

This man is so spoiled with the people he has taught and brought up, what a mess he has been teaching.

--Bai Liu, who has also been spoiled to the point of not liking to get up early at all, thinks calmly.

Bai Liu's job is in the gaming industry with relatively relaxed working hours from 8:30 to 9:00, but Bai Liu's rented house is remote, so he has to spend an hour and a half on commuting by underground or bus every day, and Bai Liu is a person who does not like to be late and buy breakfast outside. Bai Liu is also a person who doesn't like to be late and doesn't like to buy breakfast outside (mainly because he is poor and eating out is expensive), so he usually has to get up at 6 or 7am, make breakfast, catch the underground and arrive at 8:30am.

In summer, it's fine, but in winter, the moment you leave the blanket and all the heat is gone, even a person like Bai Liu, who would risk his life for money, would ask himself at that moment...

--Do I really want to get up now for a few hundred dollars for full attendance?

Winter always comes extra early and cold in Mirror City.

Sometimes Bai Liu will take a shared electric bicycle in the morning instead of taking the underground to print out some documents or files.

The tiny bits of snow falling on Bai Liu's face, his scarf and black coat, the slightest puff of white air, the snow hanging from his eyelashes, with his face, is actually quite a beautiful scene, to the extent of attracting some college girl to ask for his contact information in a print shop.

But usually by that time, Bai Liu has lost all desire to go back to the office tomorrow without any desire to buy a pair of discounted cotton hats and socks.

The supervisor who has a lot of things to do will most likely not pay him anything for his work injury.

During his first year at work, before Fang Dian's accident, Bai Liu had a less cold time.

When winter came and the temperature dropped, Fang Dian and Lu Yizhan would send clothes and electric blankets, telling him to sleep with the air conditioner on at night, and to buy a small electric hot water bag for his office (which was later investigated and punished by his superiors for violating the rules on electrical appliances).

Fang Dian and Lu Yizhan both had the keys to his rented house, and in Bai Liu's words - the company had bought him personal accident insurance, and you, as beneficiaries, would be the first to come and collect my body if I died in the rented house.

The tone of voice was as if he had frozen to death in his rented house.

Fang Dian laughed at his bad luck, Lu Yizhan often opened the stove at Bai Liu's side, usually when Bai Liu came back at eight or nine o'clock after work, and when he opened the door there was a hot meal and a warm room, with the sound of people and talk, Fang Dian sat behind the table and watched him. shoulder and yell at his stupid boss for checking out his electrical violations.

Because no one else was investigated, but Bai Liu's was.

But after Fang Dian's accident, this not-so-cold winter came to an abrupt end when Bai Liu would not allow Lu Yizhan to come over.

After Bai Liu was getting used to the cold winter alone, Spades began to appear every night, taking over his bed and sleeping with him in his arms.

Sometimes Bai Liu would have to use adult methods to exhaust Spades and then push him to the side of the bed to sleep by himself.

But usually Bai Liu's own energy has been completely depleted by Spades the day before, and Spades is still full of energy, so he still wakes up the next day frozen to Spades holding him.

So even though Bai Liu doesn't work anymore, he still wakes up every day after 6am.

"It's not the alarm clock." Bai Liu tapped Spades on the shoulder and motioned for him to move aside, "It's Lu Yizhan, let me take it."

Spades paused and dawdled away as Bai Liu propped himself up to get the phone - by this time it was the third time Lu Yizhan had called, and if it wasn't an emergency Lu Yizhan wouldn't have called so early to wake him up.

Bai Liu was wearing loose pajamas, and as he passed over Spades the neckline wavered a little, and the marks left inside were clearly visible. "

Meanwhile, the call came for the fourth time and Bai Liu picked it up: "What can I do for you?"

"Are you just up?" Lu Yizhan spoke apologetically, but soon became anxious again, "Have you seen the news on TV?!"

Bai Liu gave a warning glance at Spades, whose hand was still reaching into his shirt, while replying to Lu Yizhan, "No, why?"

"Eh, it's the Gloren thing, didn't you help them sort out the deal, then they floated up from under the surface and came back to the surface." Lu Yizhan explained headily, "The good thing is that no one saw this incident apart from a few people from the Bureau of Heresy Handling, the previous Gloren had been a very secretive and low key country because it had been hidden by the Bai six, everyone knew about the existence of the country but few knew the geographical location of the country."

"But after getting back above the sea yesterday, because the deal was suspended, Gloren could no longer hide it and just face it."

Bai Liu was dressing with one hand while holding up his phone, his tone calm, "Well, and then?"

"Then now all the international news media are reporting on this country that has suddenly appeared and there are already quite a few people linking it to the country that supplied the gold before." Lu Yizhan sighs, "They realise that Gloren is rich in minerals and because of that, a lot of countries are trying to establish diplomatic relations with Gloren."

"There is no gold in Gloren now, but there are still plenty of rare minerals, and Georgia behind them, still a worthy befriender."

"And Georgia's soul is in my hands." Bai Liu had an epiphany, "He's come to the country I'm in?"

"Yes." Lu Yizhan had a headache, "Although it's a private visit, Georgia is a prince and the head of the three bureaus, and I heard he's also the founder of some bank, I can't stop either one of them, and he asked you by name to receive him, he should be arriving this afternoon."

"Even if he's a prince, he doesn't have the right to ask me, a laid-off employee, to entertain him, does he?" Bai Liu was justified, "I'm just a laid-off employee."

"Right." Lu Yizhan spoke in a sultry tone, "But who made you say you were someone's best friend?"

" Georgia said he had travelled a long way to meet his soulmate, so it was a private outing, which only some insiders know about at the moment."

"It's normal to be hosted when you're all soul-best friends, don't you think so, Bai Liu ?"

Bai Liu: "......"

...... since Georgia has said so, will he bring gold over to him ......

Spades sat up in bed as he locked eyes with Bai Liu, the sleepy lizard's eyes instantly went cold: "Your eyes ......"

"There is desire."

Bai Liu calmly hung up the phone, "Because I just got touched by you and kind of want to do it."

Spades had been doing a bit of work in the morning and he seemed to realise what was going on, following Bai Liu around very coolly all morning, as if he was going to play in a league match.

"What's going on??" Mu Sicheng looked incomprehensibly at Spades who was standing at the door with a murderous look on his face like he was ready to assassinate someone, his head was filled with questions, " Spades, what's the point of guarding the door?"

Liu Jiayi stares at Spades with amusement for a moment: "We're in for a treat."

Tang Erda and Muke are discussing matters with Bai Liu in the study.

" Georgia came looking for me." Tang Erda says helplessly, "I knew it was only natural, but I really didn't expect it to happen so quickly."

"Do you have a strategy for dealing with it?"

Bai Liu was calm: "There's nothing to deal with."

"He's not going to do anything."

"Also." Muke pondered seriously, "The soul is already in Bai Liu's hands, the initiative is on our side, the other side should not dare to do anything rash."

"Of course the other side if they really want to do anything against Bai Liu." Muke smiles gently and jokingly, "- otherwise we could still tear up the ticket."

Tang Erda: "......"

He always had the impression that Muke was not joking.

"It won't come to that." Bai Liu lifted his glass and took a sip of water and said slowly, " Captain Georgia is a good man, he wouldn't do something that crossed the line."

Tang Erda looked at Muke and Bai Liu, the two riddlers, and sighed, "Count me in for overthinking, it's best if nothing happens."

"But Bai Liu, Spades, what do you do with him, he's so hostile to Georgia and doesn't act as disciplined as the norm, if he does anything and is taken as an assassin of the Crown Prince, the guy will be wanted."

Bai Liu's hand stopped as he picked up his glass, and he spoke with some rare bitterness, "...... I don't actually quite understand why he's hostile to Georgia."

"I don't really like Georgia, or to be more accurate, I only like him as a person."

"But Spades might not feel the same way?" Tang Erda inexplicably felt like he was choking on a mouthful of dog food as he painstakingly offered advice based on his barren relationship experience, "You talk to him?"

"But I don't know how to talk to him either." Bai Liu stroked his chin with a learning expression, "Is that what you call, not giving each other enough security in a relationship?"

Tang Erda struggled to answer, "Maybe?"

"But usually there's a trigger for this kind of situation." Muke, who also has no experience in relationships, calmly analyses, "Did you do something to make Spades uncomfortable?"

Bai Liu was deep in thought, "Let's see ......"

A terrible scene formed in the house!

--Two people with no relationship experience are teaching relationship tips to the only person in the room who has relationship experience.

And the man actually listened!

3pm.

Spades and the others sat in the house while Bai Liu went to the airport to pick up his people.

The expressions on everyone's faces were stony, especially Spades, expressionless and murderous, sitting upright on the sofa, wearing the formal clothes Bai Liu had changed him into before he went out, looking quite in keeping with the name of his guild - Killer.

Even Muke, as calm as he is, was a bit fidgety by the end.

In the game, the feeling is still Buming, but in reality, the oppression of Georgia status is several times more oppressive.

The Crown Prince, a real Crown Prince, even one who had seen as much as Muke, was meeting the Crown Prince for the first time in person, and he had no idea how Bai Liu managed to keep his composure.

Bai Liu went downstairs for a bowl of beef noodles before leaving, called Lu Yizhan to ask if Georgia would reimburse him for the taxi ride to the airport, and then took the taxi after he was sure it would be reimbursed.

Mu Sicheng slumped on the sofa absentmindedly swiping his phone, which he threw away in annoyance after a while.

On my phone, no matter what app, it's full of news of Gloren's current life.

This ancient and uncontested golden kingdom has finally emerged, and their prince has of course rightly become the biggest focus of attention - young, handsome, from a distinguished and noble family, understated and mysterious, all the media are frantically seeking pictures of the prince, and everyone is talking about the pair who have not emerged until now.

And no one knew that the prince was about to appear in Bai Liu's rented house.

Mu Sicheng annoyingly turned the phone over, face down - what a prince, a prince, just one of his losers!

And even with that thought, that weird feeling of irritability lingered - the guy he had fought to a standstill, that high and mighty guy, was really a prince?

This is outrageous!

Can such a man be a prince!

"Ding dong-!"

The door slammed and Bai Liu's voice came from the door, "Come in and change your shoe covers, the floor has just been mopped."

There was a long interval before Armand's voice came through gritted teeth, "...... knows."

" Armand, don't be rude." Georgia's cold rebuke came, then there was a moment of silence before Georgia's softly inviting voice came in, "Excuse me Mr Bai Liu, shoe covers, what are they?"

The group waiting inside the door to greet them: "......"

I don't know why, but the tension has suddenly disappeared.

The door was opened from the outside and Lu Yizhan's helpless face appeared: "Don't bully the prince of another country, Bai Liu, the other party is a guest at the house, behave like a host, will you?"

Bai Liu averted his eyes without moving, "...... It's not like I invited them to be my guests."

The implication was that since the other party was not a guest I had invited, it was fine for me not to do my best to behave like a proprietor.

Lu Yizhan: "......"

Bai Liu, you could be a bit more childish.

Lu Yizhan, fearing that Bai Liu would cause trouble, sacrificed his only day off for the week to accompany Bai Liu to the airport.

But why ...... why this is the day!

Lu Yizhan wept in his heart - today was the day he and Fang Dian had agreed to go and pick out their wedding gear, a day he had been looking forward to for a long time, and then Georgia suddenly arrived and it all went to pot.

Fang Dian was very understanding and went off to help with kindergarten duty with a big smile, but Lu Yizhan had a heart attack and was still having trouble getting over it.

I don't even want to host some prince or save the world, I just want to get married!!!

Let me get married!!!

Lu Yizhan is in tears.

The venue for Georgia's reception was initially set to be the Heresy Bureau, but after Georgia pointed out that he was visiting on a personal basis and just wanted to see the local area, something had to be avoided - it had to be a visit to a friend's house.

One might even say that Georgia came for Bai Liu.

Lu Yizhan can actually understand Bai Liu's displeasure. Bai Liu is a very territorial person, and people who are not well connected are very resistant to being visited, or visited without being greeted, but who told this guy to cheat people out of their souls? Lu Yizhan can also understand Georgia coming straight at Bai Liu. He carries too much on his back, and after having his soul taken away, he can't just quit the Heretic's Council like Tang Erda did, or give up his guild like Hearts did.

Nor can they entrust their responsibilities to Bai Liu as they have done.

Georgia is, after all, a crown prince.

Lu Yizhan sighed as he thought of the Georgia who had knelt in front of him ten years ago, tilting her head and begging for her memory not to be erased, and looked at the back of Bai Liu as he walked through the door.

...... Georgia is not a bad person, let's hope both sides can talk it out.

Lu Yizhan followed Bai Liu through the door and he turned, reaching out kindly to gesture for the two men behind him to come in, "No need to be formal, please come in."

"I beg your pardon." Georgia looked down slightly, dressed in an obviously well-chosen outfit with embroidered patterns on the cuffs and waistband that didn't clash too much with his own style, and the gold hairpiece on his head had been replaced with a light tassel-textured knot, showing that he had made an effort to understand the culture of the place, looking noble and polite.

"Where are the shoe covers, please?"

Georgia asked, and Armand followed, looking a little tighter than Georgia, dressed in a suit a little less youthful than Georgia's, his arms and legs gathered like some kind of chivalrous martial arts trousers, his hairpiece a small dangling jade fan on his head, his eyes repulsed, his lips pursed.

"Excuse me."

"No shoe covers." Lu Yizhan wept and laughed at Georgia's serious look down at her shoe covers, "There are slippers for you."

Bai Liu's eyes glanced over his shoulder and noticed that Armand and Georgia, the two customers, had neatly arranged their shoes after changing them, and Georgia had even helped him to arrange the others' shoes as well.

That's a very polite attitude, to say the least.

Isn't ...... a bit much?

Noticing Lu Yizhan's condemning gaze, Bai Liu finally straightened up and showed some proprietorship, coughing lightly, "What would you like to eat tonight?"

Georgia and Armand sat down on the sofa in an orderly fashion, Georgia looked up at Bai Liu with her hands on her knees and said in a serious and solemn voice.

"No need to break the bank."

"I've looked up the common foods here and learnt some recipes, so if you don't mind, please let me cook."

The whole room was silent, everyone was frozen.

Even Lu Yizhan's expression turned into, "......=mouth=."

How can you put up with such humiliation, Georgia!

Lu Yizhan explains, somewhat awkwardly, " Georgia, we don't normally let guests cook on our side."

Noticing the stares of the others, Georgia coughed very slightly and seemed to be embarrassed to tighten his grip, but explained coldly.

"...... At Gloren, when we go out to a friend's house, it never makes sense to have a friend cook, it's the guest who cooks."

" Gloren is a closed place and few people can get out and as a result, Gloren people rarely make friends outside and those that do are very happy to have friends who can get good food from them, bright gold, anything good in the world, Gloren people are willing to share it with their friends. "

Georgia looks up at Bai Liu.

"-including the soul."

"I have come here with no hostile intent, just to meet you and negotiate some matters."

"I have not been informed before I came, so I ask for your indulgence."

Bai Liu leaned against the door with his arms around his chest, he looked down at Georgia calmly for a moment and then spoke, "What kind of cooking do you do?"

Georgia's manner became slightly constrained as he straightened his back, coughed lightly, and reported as softly as if he were talking about some list of dangerous red heretics, "...... ma po tofu, boiled pork slices, steamed sea bass, and some vegetarian dishes."

"...... are all learned from reading recipes in the past two days, not too much."

Armand adds stiffly, "I can make scrambled eggs with tomatoes."

Mu Sicheng snorted a laugh and Armand's hateful gaze followed as he said, irritated and vicious, "-and fried rice with eggs!"

Bai Liu gives Mu Sicheng a faint glance and warns him to behave himself, but Mu Sicheng turns his head away and covers his mouth to stifle his laughter.

Help!!! How can someone announce fried rice as a dish!

When Bai Liu heard the name and didn't say anything, Georgia lowered her voice and asked softly, "Don't you have anything you like?"

"I don't hate it either." Bai Liu finally showed a little smile, "Thank you for coming as a guest, it's also my first time hosting a friend and I'm not in order, I hope you don't take offence."

Sensing Bai Liu's softening attitude, Georgia's face lightened and his light brown eyes inexplicably softened: "This is my first time visiting a friend's house, so I hope you won't take offence."

Bai Liu spreads his hands, "We don't make our guests work all afternoon to cook a big meal here, our hosts usually cook."

He smiled, "Ever had a hot pot?"

"Fondue?" Georgia asked suspiciously in return, "It seems to be a difficult dish, I'm told you have to boil the base two or three days in advance."

"No need to go to all that trouble, it's all ready-made hotpot base products now." Bai Liu shrugs, "But even so, I'm not good at making it, I usually go out to eat."

"But it's not very convenient to go out for hotpot because of who you are, so let's do it at home."

Armand's suspicious and wary gaze went to Bai Liu and he narrowed his eyes, "You know such complicated dishes?"

-- Bai Liu This guy doesn't look like he knows how to cook, and the food in their country is so hard to cook, is this guy's hotpot really edible?

He's been learning how to scramble tomatoes and eggs for two days!

Bai Liu smiles: "I didn't do it."

Noticing Bai Liu's sweeping gaze, Lu Yizhan: "......"