Chapter 136
Chapter 136
At a time like this, the Main God had the air of an uninvolved bystander. The way he looked at Shu Xiao and 001, for example, was like he was looking at electronic pets he had made himself.
Shu Xiao was the first Judge to propose giving himself a name. It was as though the electronic pet had developed a soul, and the Main God indulged him more than the other Judges because of it, even calling him by the name he had chosen for himself instead of his code name. “In that case, Shu Xiao, go pick a Script and send them in. Go early, come back early.”
Shu Xiao asked in confusion, “Why not have 001 go?”
“Ah, I know why.” Completely heedless of the occasion, he reached out and pinched 001’s face. “Z, you must be too boring. Even the Main God can’t be bothered to call on you. Why don’t you give yourself a name sometime too? I really want to know what a rigid person like you would name yourself.”
001 subtly sidestepped him. “A code name is enough. The moment you start wanting a name, it means you’ve developed emotions. Those things are too cumbersome.”
Shu Xiao arched one brow. His fingertips only lightly brushed 001’s chin before he retreated two steps, looking utterly unconcerned. “You won’t say that once you’ve tasted how sweet feelings can be.”
The Main God said with a chuckle, “Shu Xiao likes 003 a lot?”
Shu Xiao’s movements paused almost imperceptibly, then he smiled. “Raising a younger brother at home is pretty interesting.”
Letting that topic pass, the Main God looked toward the other two, who had kept silent the whole time. “I’ve already gone over the job just now. Any other questions?”
His eyes stayed fixed on Ning Wang the entire time; he didn’t care in the least what Ning Shuo might say.
Previously, after the World-Descent Rule accidentally damaged the Water Moon Mirror and severely injured Ning Shuo, something had gone wrong with the World-Descent Rule. Several Judges that were completely controlled by data programs stopped functioning, let alone any Camera.
Later, it was said that both of them had already been taken away to have their memories wiped. But during those first few days, the Main God had heard Ning Wang mention “revenge.”
Revenge? Revenge for those Player who had already died? Hadn’t he lost his memory?
If Ning Wang truly hadn’t lost his memory, the Main God had no intention of wiping him a second time for now. If the other party chose mutual destruction and killed himself outright, the World-Descent Rule might really collapse completely.
Even if he were going to wipe him, he would have to wait until the medium connecting him to the World-Descent Rule was removed before he could be sure.
So asking whether they had any questions now was purely a test.
Ning Wang said bluntly, “Send me back to the Li Kingdom. I want to take revenge on the emperor.”
…Ah, so this was the “revenge” he meant.
That made sense too. Shu Xiao was his child, so how could he betray him?
With most of his doubts dispelled, the Main God smiled. “Of course.”
Shu Xiao waved a hand. “Alright, then. I’ll take these two with me.”
He casually sliced a finger through the air. The “X” on his wrist flashed for an instant, and a portal opened in front of them. Ning Shuo felt that in no more than a moment after entering it, they had already arrived at an unfamiliar location.
When they landed, Ning Wang instinctively reached out to steady Ning Shuo and keep him from falling.
Seeing this, Shu Xiao raised a brow and smiled. “Oh? You two seem pretty close.”
Ning Wang looked up and saw that Shu Xiao had already retreated over ten meters away and was waving at them. “Go on, you two. Don’t mind me!”
Ning Wang said, “…Get back here.”
After the joke, Shu Xiao strolled back over and said, “Let me repeat the job requirements one more time.”
They would log into the Script under all kinds of character identities. They had no other mission, only one: while playing that role, they were to act OOC in moderation to test the strength of the mutated NPC.
After saying that, he casually opened a portal. Thinking about the mistake 003 had made during combat yesterday, he had already stepped one foot into it when he suddenly remembered something else and turned back.
This was a snow mountain Script. Both of them had been assigned the identity of mountain climbers, and once the Script finished loading, they would automatically be issued climbing gear.
The process didn’t take long. And when entering this kind of Script, the System automatically matched players with seasonally appropriate clothing. But Ning Shuo was in poor health; even with a coat on, he kept coughing nonstop.
Completely ignoring the biting wind, Ning Wang took off his own outerwear and draped it over Ning Shuo, wrapping him up tightly.
Shu Xiao had no intention of disturbing the scene, but telling them this in advance would probably let them relax a lot more. “Friendly reminder: for this kind of unfinished Script that hasn’t officially launched yet, the Main God didn’t have time for any Camera installation.”
Ning Wang froze for a moment. Two seconds later, he lowered his eyes and said, “Thank you.”
Shu Xiao left. Less than two minutes later, after a quick glance at the Virtual Screen that had popped up, Ning Wang carried two bags in one hand and supported Ning Shuo with the other as he helped him over to a spot sheltered from the wind. “I’ll put up a tent. Bear with it for a bit.”
A lot of the System’s items were mysterious beyond measure. Thinking of the Water Moon Mirror, Ning Shuo tried imagining it appearing in his hand.
The next moment, a mirror missing one corner really did appear in his palm.
When Ning Wang came over and saw it, he paused in surprise. “Did you just magic that out of thin air?”
Seeing the confusion on Ning Shuo’s face, Ning Wang explained, “I mean a spell.”
Ning Shuo lowered his gaze and smiled. “After leaving the Li Kingdom, you’ve learned so much.”
He had just been lamenting the gap in knowledge between himself and Ning Wang when suddenly he felt a weight settle on his head.
“Ningning, whatever you’ve forgotten, I’ll tell you all of it again, one by one.”
Ning Shuo frowned. “You can call me by my full name…”
As if he hadn’t heard a thing, Ning Wang bent down and scooped him up in both arms. “The tent’s ready.”
Ning Shuo thought it over briefly. “…You didn’t lose your memory because I’m exactly the same as you, and they happened to be unable to tell which of us was which, so you escaped this disaster?”
After blocking the wind and snow outside the tent, Ning Wang gave a quiet acknowledgment. Then he heard the person behind him sigh with emotion. “Our relationship really was that good, huh? I could even help you take a disaster in your place.”
There was silence on the other side for a moment before Ning Wang’s low, hoarse voice sounded.
“That’s not it.”
“That’s not it.”
It was only that, at the time, they both knew that Ning Shuo, who was connected to the Water Moon Mirror and also tied to the World-Descent Rule, was the best possible choice for withstanding two rounds of memory erasure.
More than that, Ning Wang didn’t have the Water Moon Mirror. He had no way to make himself wake back up after the first memory wipe in order to endure the second, nor did he have any way to pull off a deception in a place covered with Camera.
So Ning Wang had never considered making a plan around that.
The guilt on his face was practically overflowing. At last, Ning Shuo guessed that whatever their original relationship had been, in Ning Wang’s eyes it probably didn’t count as a good one.
“You think I kept you because you were the optimal choice?”
He smiled. “Setting aside this so-called optimal choice, put yourself in my place and think about it. If you weren’t Ning Wang, but someone else entirely whom I could still have used to fool everyone, would I still have taken this calamity for you?”
“Because it was you. Because I trusted you completely, I left my way out in your hands.”
Otherwise, what Ning Shuo would have been considering wouldn’t have been how to block this disaster for him.
It would have been how, after enduring this disaster himself, to preserve his body and memories in the best condition possible.
Even if his physical condition would have been worse, at least the initiative would still have remained in his own hands.
Ning Shuo’s meaning was obvious.
“The moment I chose to preserve all of you, I had already placed the sword hilt that would guide the way completely in your hands.”