Chapter 573: Playoffs

After the meeting, Bai Liu stayed behind to discuss with Wang Shun.

"I have investigated the players who died at the hands of the Joker and the Executioner in the previous matches." Wang Shun opened the system panel and handed it to Bai Liu, "It can be seen that the Joker kills at random in the tournament, but the Executioner controls him, so the players the Joker actually killed were not the ones the Joker wanted to kill, but the ones the Executioner wanted to kill."

"In short, the Joker is the executioner's killer." Bai Liu summed it up succinctly as he pondered, "But it's a bit odd, the Executioner isn't weak in his own skills, he can even ignore a death warrant, so why would he need the Joker's hand to kill?"

"Well, I thought that was a bit odd too." Wang Shun sighed, "Apart from that, there's another strange point, I went to investigate these players who died at their hands and found out that these players were more or less involved in the smuggling of heretics."

Bai Liu raised an eyebrow; "Oh?"

"Like this Kabbalah guild wanderer who got his head shot off by a clown last game." Wang Shun taps on the system panel, points to the guy on it and says, "You remember this thing called [Blood Lingerie]? A heresy used by a group of investors to clutch the blood of children to renew their lives."

"This wanderer is one of the hitmen that one of the investors keeps in the game, as his bodyguard."

"Didn't all those investors get locked up?" Bai Liu asked.

"Yes." Wang Shun nodded, "but not all of the people in their vicinity are being held, and some of these people are players and can use various props to cover up and escape."

Bai Liu seems to understand: "So the Executioner has struck, punishing them in the game."

"And what you said, why did the Executioner use the Joker's hand to carry out the execution, it wasn't actually like that before." Wang Shun slid the panel to the next page, "When the Reverse God was still in Deer Hunter, the main attacker's hand was the Executioner himself, this warband generally did not kill people, and the Executioner would release the players locked in before the game ended even if he used the skill [Sinner's Well]."

"But after the Reverse God left the Deer Hunter, the Executioner took over the tactician's position himself and he handed over the main attacker's duties to the newcomer Joker."

Wang Shun took a deep breath, "Then something changed."

Bai Liu narrowed his eyes as he looked at the densely arranged, greyed out pictures of players on the panel, "He's starting to kill people."

Community Counselling Room.

Lu Yizhan's shirt is half removed to reveal his right shoulder, still unhealed from Daniel's bullet wound, and Liao Ke, wearing rubber gloves, changes Lu Yizhan's dressing, disinfects the wound that will never heal, then presses the cotton, wraps the bandage and sighs.

"This wound won't heal." After changing, Liao Ke tapped Lu Yizhan on the shoulder, "Get up!"

Lu Yizhan was jolted by the slap, grimacing and shouting, "Mr. Liao, what are you shooting at?"

"Does it still hurt?" Liao Ke laughed, "I thought you had the guts to block Daniel's soul-crushing shot, that's enough to scrape your bones, and you're still crying out in pain?"

Lu Yizhan looked sad: "At this time, you're still making fun of me."

"Down to play the Gambler, against that old fox Charles." Liao Ke took his gloves off and threw them in the medical bin, pressing the death-free disinfectant twice to wipe his hands, "How do you set the tactics?"

" Charles will probably play a fake game, first a wave of counterattacking mad pursuit to suppress us and pull up their win rate, then forfeit and surrender when the win rate is at its highest, he should press us all the way at that moment." Lu Yizhan put his shirt back on and buttoned it up, his expression composed, "If he wants to play, let's play along with him to the end."

"So that means it's not a hard fight." Liao Ke nodded knowingly and the conversation turned abruptly, "What about Buming, what are you going to do?"

Lu Yizhan's hand stopped as he reached the last button, and he lowered his eyes without speaking.

"...... haven't you guys made up yet?" Liao Ke was a little surprised, "I thought you asked me to ask Little Cen for help with that earlier thing, you two have talked."

"Not really Mr. Lu, you two have been the front and back team in over 300 world lines before, and have fought in numerous fights, big and small, how come you two have been in a cold war for so long over such a small matter this time?"

"I never fought with him, he beat me unilaterally and I never fought back, okay?" Lu Yizhan spread his hands helplessly.

"But you can be a bit of an underdog sometimes." Liao Ke nodded approvingly, "You and Little Cen agreed at the beginning to stay at the Deer Hunter to defend Bai Liu and win the league, but then you ran away when it came down to it, and delegated your cards to Bai Liu.

"If I were Little Cen, I'd beat you up too!"

Lu Yizhan was quiet and sighed, "So I know it was my fault too, he didn't hit me back even when he did ......"

" Little Cen usually beats you up and it's over." Liao Ke asked suspiciously, "Why this time ......"

Lu Yizhan was silent for longer this time as he fastened the last button and said very softly, "It touched his bottom."

"We don't share the same philosophy, this is not something we can talk about."

The superficial peace he had spent over 300 world lines trying to maintain fell apart at that moment, and Cen Buming stood outside the door, calmly holding his gun up to him and saying, "One more time, and I'll still shoot.

It's as if Lu Yizhan couldn't get at Bai Liu the first time he saw him again.

For Lu Yizhan, what you haven't done is what you haven't done.

As far as Cen Buming is concerned, what's done is done.

"A philosophical disagreement?" Liao Ke frowned, "Is this about Little Cen killing those people? That's how you've been setting Little Cen up for work before."

"His status is that of an executioner, shooting players who have crossed the line is exactly what he should be doing as a hunter who walks the line between the Heresy Handling Authority and the game, and you would have him do that in Deer Hunter, so why would you say the philosophy is not compatible?"

"It's not the same." Lu Yizhan was quiet for a long time and shook his head, "Because he doesn't believe in [the Inquisitor] anymore."

"His execution, which lost the [trial] aspect, is something I cannot endorse."

The executioner who had lost his [judge], the hunter who had been abandoned by the [seer], acted more and more paranoid, he began to execute according to his own perceived judgement, but now at least there was no time when the line was crossed, and the people killed were indeed those who deserved it.

But when will he cross that line and become the subject of execution by the Judge?

Liao Ke was stunned and he too fell silent, and it was a long time before he spoke, "Are you going to [judge] him?"

"I hope that day doesn't come." Lu Yizhan looked up with a smile, his eyes a little red, "I don't want to judge him."

"...... Had I known, I wouldn't have wanted a hunter."

Liao Ke sighs with a complicated look in her eyes.

It's kind of ridiculous for a prophet to say he knew about it.

But Lu Yizhan is like that. The more people he cares about, the more last-minute he is, the more he is afraid to see the end. In that skill, [Listening to God's Words], God has already written the end for each of them, and Lu Yizhan only has to prophesy to get a glimpse of it.

Lu Yizhan doesn't believe in that ending, doesn't dare to see that ending, doesn't want to see that ending -

-- he would have preferred to struggle like an ordinary man who knew nothing until the last moment and then fall into the end of God.

Hinchmani family.

After Phoebe took the power of the guild and came back strong, her father disappeared - or smelled bad and ran away would be more accurate.

This man has always been arrogant and conceited, thinking he can accept life and death, measuring and testing everyone by it, but when it comes to this moment, he is still timid and far less calm than the two children he has raised.

Before leaving, the man is determined to leave Phoebe in a bit of trouble, leaving a suicide note handing over Phoebe's heirship to Daniel and, even more troubling, Daniel, who has been out of sight all this time, is really back and he's about to turn eighteen.

In five days' time, Daniel's bar mitzvah will be celebrated and, in accordance with Hinchmani family rules, the child who comes of age will inherit, and he will be the new head of the family on his eighteenth birthday.

It's not such an easy task, at least not for Phoebe, the powerful former heir to the throne.

She already holds most of the Hinchmani family's power, and with the Guild behind her, if Daniel were to take power, he would have to kill Phoebe to succeed, but obviously, that would not be easy.

The head of the family disappears, leaving behind a letter to replace his successor, and the eldest son, who has been missing for over a month, suddenly returns, accompanied by a coming-of-age ceremony.

--The entire Hinchmani family was caught in a stormy atmosphere, the servants were trembling as they wiped down the decorations, they could smell the gunpowder and blood in the air.

While everyone expected a confrontation between Phoebe and Daniel before the bar mitzvah, the current de facto head of the family, Phoebe - Hinchmani, calmly approved the bar mitzvah and invited a large number of distinguished guests to make it a rather large event.

All those who were waiting for the struggle were dumbfounded.

Everyone in the Hinchmani family knew what Daniel's bar mitzvah meant, so they became more and more confused about Phoebe's intentions - Phoebe was even more unpredictable and unpredictable than her father, it had to be said, and no one could read her mind, which made everyone more afraid of her. This made everyone more afraid of her.

Although she was only sixteen, no one thought Daniel would succeed in wresting power from her hands.

The day of Daniel's birthday will surely be the anniversary of his death.

It may have been a grand bar mitzvah or a grand jubilee laying ceremony.

Across the long, dark corridor, looking down from the jogging platform of the corner staircase on the first floor, were servants earnestly cleaning up and beginning to adorn the surrounding area with all sorts of expensive decorations, all in advance of the ball in five days' time.

While Phoebe rests one hand on the fence, her eyes downcast, her long, curly blonde hair falling from her shoulders, silently watching those in front of her, Daniel leans against the stairs, grinning and fiddling with a flower plant placed by the stairs, his attire somewhat more casual than Phoebe's modest attire, with unwashed grease on her face and a bloody footprint as she walks.

"A coming-of-age gift for me?" Daniel gave a cheeky smile, "You're really in the mood."

"Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?"

The servants below were silent, their backs bowed and pretended they heard nothing.

Phoebe looked down at Daniel and said, "Are you really ready to betray?"

"I've never been loyal to you." As if he had heard a very funny joke, Daniel shrugged his shoulders and laughed provocatively, "And what is this talk of betrayal?"

Phoebe did not answer.

Daniel withdrew his eyes in bemusement as he bounced and hummed a little tune past Phoebe, his tone a twisted excitement, "Godfather would be so happy to get this family."

Daniel bounces one bloody footprint after another, spreading deeper and deeper into the cloister until the light cannot be found.

Phoebe withdrew her eyes and looked at the bloody footprints he had left on the ground, then with a glance at the flowers where Daniel had scratched his fingerprints, she said, "Replace the bouquet."

When the servant came up to change the flowers, he was shocked: "These are your and Mr Daniel's favourite flowers, why are they caught like this?

"Change it." Phoebe lowered her eyes, " Daniel doesn't like the flower now, so naturally he will hurt it."

--Finally, it's come to this.

Next day, rental house.

Du Sanying was sitting next to him, hesitant to go forward, when Mu Sicheng saw him like this, he grabbed him and squeezed Du Sanying's shoulder: "What's going on, why haven't you come out these days?"

Du Sanying backed away quickly, shaking his head frantically as he pressed himself against the wall in terror: "Don't come near me!"

"You're about to play a game and it's going to be bad luck!"

Mu Sicheng was unconcerned and waved his hand: "You can't have any more bad luck than this Bai Liu guy, he's our tactician, what do I care about your bad luck?"

Bai Liu: "...... Indeed."

"Why have you been avoiding us lately?" Mu Sicheng asked suspiciously, "I was looking for you to come out for dinner yesterday, but I couldn't find you for half a day and called to find that you had run out."

" Wang Shun said you don't even come to our games anymore, what's wrong with you?"

Du Sanying bowed his head and his voice was weak: "...... Aren't you guys playing a very important playoff game, I'm afraid what if I'm there and you guys are unlucky and you lose ......"

There was a silence from several people.

Bai Liu was calm - he knew why Du Sanying didn't come to see him, but he didn't like to force people, so when Du Sanying was really resistant, Bai Liu wouldn't chase after him like Mu Sicheng did to ask Du Sanying to come to dinner to see him. But if Du Sanying was more hesitant and less resistant, Bai Liu would extend the olive branch.

For example, now.

"So do you want to come and watch?" Bai Liu enquired softly, "Today is the semi-final, four to two."

"It should be a great game."

Du Sanying's eyes clearly wavered and he bit his lower lip, but did not say anything.

But it didn't go away either.

"Come and watch if you want to." Bai Liu doesn't push, "It's no fun for Wang Shun to watch the game alone, so it's good for you to keep him company."

"What do you want to see before you see it?" Mu Sicheng slips Du Sanying a hand and vows, "Then you must come and see it!"

"I'm telling you, you should have come to the last game, I was an ace last game and my opponent got beaten ......"

Mu Sicheng chattered on and Du Sanying tried to run away in panic, only to be held down by Muke next to him with a smile: "It's also an important duty as part of the Wandering Circus to see us win the title."

"But just in case ......" Du Sanying's eyes welled up with fear, "you guys get off my back!"

"I don't want anything to happen to you!"

"Not so much." Liu Jiayi waved her hand, "To say that you'd let something happen to us, you'd still have to come in behind Bai Liu."

Tang Erda nods rather approvingly.

Seeing that the crowd was about to pout at Du Sanying, Bai Liu came to the rescue by extending his hand and raising his eyes, "Wanna come into the game with us and watch the game?"

"If it wasn't for your help, we wouldn't have made it this far, and you deserve to be a part of witnessing our victory."

Du Sanying was stunned for a long, long time before he trembled and placed his hand on Bai Liu's palm, and he gave a hard, choked up sob: "You will win!"

Even if he could only remember seven days, he could feel that these people were his last friends in this world, and they were so important to him that he was willing to use all his good fortune for the victory of these people.

--Even if he has to live the rest of his life in misfortune, that's fine.

Game on, viewing pool 2.

The crowd was twice the size of the last one, and Mu Sicheng was almost shocked when he entered, so dense were the heads that you couldn't even see their faces.

"The Deer Hunters are very popular this year." Wang Shun took a deep breath to adjust his mind and explained, "Plus we won against Golden Dawn earlier and it's the semi-finals again, so our win is more uncertain than the killer sequence against the gamblers' guild where the winner is probably already decided, so the crowd for this one with particularly large."

"The betting rate has also had a particularly erratic opening move, having gone up and down three times, with a high of four and a low of just under 0.3."

"As mentioned in the pre-match meeting, the heart of this match lies in the Executioner and the Joker, the Executioner is very aggressive and the Joker, although a newcomer, has a high defense, I estimated that he can resist at least one full shot." Wang Shun let out a breath, "And both the Executioner and the Joker have a big skill that can jump death-free gold discs to death in the opening chapter, [Sinner's Well] and [Soul Crushing Gun], if they get circled, it's not just a matter of attrition ......"

"Deaths outside the [Well of Sinners] venue, Shattergun has absolutely no way to revive ......"

"I won't let the team get hit by a bullet." Tang Erda spoke abruptly, his gaze condensing, "Opening the chapter, I will control the Joker."

Wang Shun gave Tang Erda a complicated look.

Both [The Executioner] and Joker are in the main attack configuration, a very rare [double main attack] team, which puts a lot of pressure on the opponent's main attack, so their ace in the hole is, of course, Tang Erda, who has the most experience and the best psychological profile.

"Take it easy, take it easy!" Mu Sicheng proudly came over, he put one arm around Tang Erda and one hand on Bai Liu's shoulder, "And I'm an ace wanderer!"

"So what if they have a double main attack, I can clear them out just the same!"

"Don't take it lightly." Bai Liu turned his head calmly to look at everyone as he tugged on his gloves, his gesture of readiness for battle, "Once you see Daniel make a shooting move, remember how we agreed?"

"The nearest team member quickly clears the team member targeted by Daniel, never let Daniel get a shot." Liu Jiayi repeats with a stony expression.

"Hmm." Bai Liu raised his eyes, "That's our most important tactic for this game, please keep that in mind."

"Both teams have forfeited the single and double matches and will proceed directly to the team competition." The host waved his hand, "The team competition is about to begin, please ask both tacticians to come forward and shake hands."

Bai Liu turns as he steps up the steps, while on the other side, Cen Buming removes his blindfold and, eyes downcast, places the [Death Ring] on his right hand.

The moment he puts the ring on, his appearance changes, gradually becoming a different image, his own, and Cen Buming turns coldly to the incredulous eyes of his team members and steps onto the stage.

Across the street, Tang Erda's pupils flinched at the sight of Cen Buming in this form.

Bai Liu also raised an eyebrow, he quickly calmed down and extended his hand with a smile, "So it's Team Cen, nice to meet you."

Cen Buming looked down at Bai Liu indifferently without reaching out, "You were testing my identity the first time we met, you already guessed who I was, right?"

"Hmm." Bai Liu doesn't shy away from acknowledging it, smiling, "Mr. Cen Buming, the Generation Hunter."

Cen Buming gave an unnoticeable pause and quickly snorted sarcastically, "It seems that Lu Yizhan didn't just give you the prophet status, he even told you these things."

"-there's really enough trust in you [the werewolf]."

"He didn't explicitly tell me who you were, but he was in your group before." Bai Liu's attitude was the same even after being ridiculed, " Lu Yizhan wouldn't stay in a guild for no reason, he's [the Inquisitor] and you're [the Executioner], so your identity is a good guess."

"He is no [inquisitor]." Cen Buming's right eye reflected a sharp and eerie light like a hawk in the daylight shining down from above from the ornamental pool, "There is no such unjust [judge] in this world."

"He ceased to be worthy of being [an Inquisitor] when he chose to stand entirely on your side and rely on his singular trust in you to save the people of this world."

"You were the mistake in the middle of his trial."

"And I, as [the executioner], need to right that wrong for him to continue with a fair trial."

Ornamental pool No. 1.

Lu Yizhan's heart skipped a beat and he choked out a few coughs, covering his chest in an attempt to stop the inexplicable feeling of unease, but to no avail, his heart was beating faster and faster, as if something was about to happen that he really didn't want to see.

"What's wrong?" Liao Ke came over worriedly, "Is the wound hurting again?"

"It's okay." Lu Yizhan's face was pale as he gripped the heavy sword resting at his side, trying to find some sort of courage among the Fang Dian look-alike weapon, "...... just a little sick at heart."

Liao Ke looked across at the team ready to take the field and said with relief, " Charles the old fox won't be that desperate, at most he will apply pressure early on and will definitely forfeit late on."

"...... hmm." Lu Yizhan forced a smile, he was silent for a long time, then suddenly asked, "What do you think Cen Buming will do after he takes Daniel and meets Bai Liu?"

"...... is that what you're worried about?" Liao Ke was stunned, but he quickly sighed, "Actually I don't think Little Cen is as dangerous as you think, he has Daniel with him, on the one hand he is carrying out the execution, on the other hand he is also supervising Daniel, with him Daniel hasn't done anything out of control so far."

"Like your guardianship attitude towards heretics, I consider Little Cen to be Daniel's guardian."

In fact, Lu Yizhan thought so too, and Cen Buming had done so before, which is why Lu Yizhan did not intervene to deal with Cen Buming's use of the Guild to house Daniel.

"And for Bai Liu ......" Liao Ke sighed, "should I say you are in authority or overly worried?"

" If Little Cen really wanted to do it to Bai Liu, he would have done it by force when Bai Liu was eighteen years old, and the fact that he was stopped by you shows that Little Cen was hesitant in his mind."

"You also said that Little Cen was aware that it was wrong for him to do that and that's why he kept asking you to kill him."

"He ...... just couldn't get past himself."

"It's like you can't give up on saving any of the good guys." Liao Ke let out a long sigh, " Little Cen couldn't stand to let any of the bad guys get away either."

"He was too afraid of a repeat of what happened in the first world line, too afraid that some innocent people would die because of his hesitation."

"And this is the last world line."

Lu Yizhan bowed his head, he clenched his fists and said nothing, then he stood up, "I'll use the skill of [Listening to God's Only Words] ......"

"I equip [Prophet] Monster Book Identity to take a look at ......" Lu Yizhan's mouth and hand tapping out the skill panel were shaking as his eyes reddened, "Just a glance... ..."

"I take a look at the ending written by Bai six to Cen Buming and Bai Liu."

"Mr. Lu." Liao Ke pulled Lu Yizhan back, his eyes complex and indistinct, "Have you forgotten? You are no longer a prophet."

"If even you don't believe in your own chosen [prophet], how are you going to get Little Cen to believe?"

Lu Yizhan's hand that wanted to tap on the skill stopped, and he finally sat back helplessly, his eyes drifting off as he murmured softly, "...... you're right."

"I'm ...... no longer [a prophet]."

The host of viewing pool one raised his hand to signal, "Will both tacticians please come forward to shake hands?"

"Go on Mr. Lu." Liao Ke patted Lu Yizhan's shoulder and advised, "Play the game first."

Lu Yizhan took a deep breath and walked across to Charles.