[Somewhere Halfway Up the Mountain, a Plain Stone House]
Lu Daoxing and a black-clad man whose features could not be made out sat on stone stools beside the fire, resting.
"Lu Daoxing, that clone tool of yours is pretty interesting."
Lu Daoxing stared blankly at the campfire, "Want it?"
"Can I have it?"
"Help me kill Jiang Hao, and I'll give it to you."
"…Didn't I help you kill Jiang Yuanxiu?"
"The payment for killing Jiang Yuanxiu was that Crimson Crystal. I already gave it to you."
"You're so stingy. You stay at my place every day, and I never even asked you for lodging or food expenses."
Lu Daoxing tossed over a gold coin, "Keep the change."
"…"
"Help me kill Jiang Hao, and I can tell you all my research techniques for the tools."
"Forget it. There's absolutely no way I'm going with you to kill Jiang Hao. He's the Tiger Card Ace of Hearts! Who in the entire safe zone can say they can definitely suppress him? Even if you found the Spade Ace Zhu Haifeng, he definitely wouldn't agree to go kill Jiang Hao with you!"
"I understand."
Lu Daoxing still looked haggard, and the campfire could not light up his eyes.
"This time, when you went to District 7 to kill Jiang Hao, I really thought you were going to die. But by a strange twist of fate, he and his brother Jiang Yuanrui switched identities, which instead allowed you to come back alive. Seriously, if Jiang Yuanrui hadn't left his own home, I'd say your chances of killing him under such heavy protection wouldn't have been more than five percent."
"Mm, about that."
The black-clad man asked again, "Lu Daoxing, even now, you still haven't asked who I am. Aren't you even a little curious?"
"Oh. Who are you?"
"…"
"Even if I ask, you won't tell me."
"…Forget it. I can tell that you're not interested in anything right now. I have a question. Have you ever shared that underground transportation capsule technology of yours, or a similar tool, with anyone else? I seem to have seen a similar tool outside the safe zone, but I didn't get a clear look at who was driving it."
"No."
"Fine. Maybe this isn't your exclusive technology," The man in black robes shook his head, "What are you planning to do next? Keep killing people from the Jiang family?"
"No. I can kill those people anytime. I'm going to the Underground City first."
"The Underground City?"
"Mm. After I became the King of Diamonds of the Snake Card, someone from the Annhilation Church contacted me and asked me to join them. I'm going to the Underground City to see what's going on."
"You're interested in the Annhilation Church too?"
"Not really interested. I just think Old Li and Little Qin might be interested, so I'm going to sound them out. If I come across any useful information, I'll find a way to share it with them."
The black-clad man let out a laugh, "You're really good to those two."
Lu Daoxing continued staring at the campfire, his expression unchanged, "I owe them."
———
The next morning, Qin Siyang was woken up by his phone ringing.
Seeing the unfamiliar number, Qin Siyang asked impatiently, "Hello, who is this?"
["Is this Qin Siyang? I'm Sun Linshou, Vice Minister of Justice."]
After thinking for a moment, Qin Siyang remembered this Vice Minister of Justice who had once appeared at the Zhao Chamber of Commerce ceremony.
"Oh, Vice Minister Sun. What's the matter?"
["I'm currently in District 7 investigating the murder of Jiang Yuanrui, the Minister of the Ministry of Economics. I hope you can cooperate with the judicial department's investigation."]
Qin Siyang was extremely puzzled, "Huh? I didn't kill Jiang Yuanrui. Why are you investigating me?"
["This is a normal legal procedure. The matter is of great importance, and all witnesses have to be questioned one by one. Please come to the scene of last night's incident and accept the investigation."]
"Then I'll go with Principal Zhao."
["There's no need to call him. It's best to record witnesses' statements separately. I'll find him later. You can come by yourself. We'll be waiting for you."]
Hearing Sun Linshou insist that he go to the scene alone, Qin Siyang became even more certain that something was wrong.
It seemed this Sun Linshou had bad intentions.
"Vice Minister Sun, sorry, but there are too many people who want to kill me or capture me. I absolutely won't leave South Glory University alone. If you want to record my statement, you can come to South Glory to see me, or I can go to the scene with Principal Zhao."
Sun Linshou said, ["Student Qin Siyang, you're being too sensitive. The venue where the incident happened is only a half-hour drive from South Glory University. There's no need to be this cautious."]
"Sorry, Vice Minister Sun. I can't possibly joke around with my own life."
["Student Qin Siyang, if you refuse to come to the scene for questioning, I'm afraid you may cause other problems by obstructing a judicial investigation."]
"Vice Minister Sun, I'm very willing to cooperate with the Ministry of Justice's investigation, but the premise is that my safety is guaranteed."
["I already told you, you won't be in danger."]
"Verbal assurances have no meaning."
Sun Linshou was silent for a few seconds before replying calmly, ["Since that's what you say, then bear the consequences yourself."]
"Mm. Goodbye, Vice Minister Sun."
Qin Siyang hung up the phone. Sun Linshou's sudden pressure left him baffled.
"When did I ever offend him?"
Just then, Zhao Longfei called.
["Little Qin, your line was busy when I called just now. Were you talking to Sun Linshou?"]
"That's right. He pressured me to go to the venue alone for questioning, and even said something like 'bear the consequences yourself if you don't go.' That's ridiculous!"
["Mm. Just now, Minister of Justice Cui Canxun called me and said that Sun Linshou was dissatisfied with the crystal coin allocation he'd been given internally by the Ministry of Justice. Last night, he went crazy and desperately took on the investigation into Jiang Yuanrui's death, intending to get revenge on us. So… he may have contacted some faction and planned to kidnap you on the way out of the school."]
Qin Siyang's eyes widened, "Is Sun Linshou insane? The Ministry of Justice's internal crystal coin allocations weren't set by us. Shouldn't he take revenge on Cui Canxun instead?"
["…Well, because Big Brother has a good relationship with Minister Cui, Secretary-General Gu's proposal on the allocations for the United Government departments also roughly divided the allocation amounts among the various levels of officials within them."]
"How were they divided?"
Zhao Longfei was vague, ["The specific algorithm is pretty complicated. The allocations of the various departments are cross-coupled with each other. This one is nested in that one, and that one is nested in this one…"]
"Give me one sentence that explains it!"
["Uh… Most of the Ministry of Justice's crystal coin allocation is controlled and dispatched by the minister."]
"How much is 'most'?!"
["Not much, less than ninety-five percent…"]
"You call that 'not much'?! Fuck! You two ate the whole meal with Cui Canxun and dragged me into the mess?"
Zhao Longfei explained, ["Little Qin, there's nothing we can do about it. Both of them are in the Ministry of Justice, and their relationship is really bad. If you have to choose one of the two, anyone would choose to get on the good side of the actual minister, Cui Canxun. Besides, we've worked with Cui Canxun many times, and it's always gone very well."]
Qin Siyang looked helpless, "Can't you get on Cui Canxun's good side without offending Sun Linshou?"
["It's not that easy. When you put it plainly, isn't interpersonal relationships just about choosing sides? If you want to get on good terms with both sides, then obviously you won't get on good terms with either side. Do I really have to explain such a simple principle?"]
[T/N: New Novel guys. It's an original. Super good kinda. Here's the synopsis:
Title: Transmigrated Into an Eldritch World, I Am the Strongest?
Synopsis:
Transmigrated into another world where Eldritch run rampant, Lynn finds he's become a knockoff pseudo-god whose divine power has run dry and who's about to fade away.
Outside the church, indescribable horrors are pounding on the door, and the despairing countdown begins.
To save himself, Lynn grits his teeth and fabricates a full-dive VR online game called [Old Gods Awaken], summoning a batch of hardcore players from Blue Star to be his believers.
He figured this bunch would tremble in fear under the Eldritch's torment, but things spiraled completely out of control...
Player A (fanatical): "Guys, this headless wraith's physical hitbox is bugged! Block it with a door and take turns chipping at it for the first kill!"
Player B (excited): "This Great Old One's tentacle has a drop check! Eat it raw for +5 poison resistance, come bite!"
Player C (pensive): "If we tie up all the NPCs in this town, the cultists won't find anyone to sacrifice. That's what you call a logic clear!"
Watching the Eldritch monsters outside the door literally scared shitless by the players, and the local natives staring at him with awestruck, crazed eyes and worshiping him as the "Supreme Lord of Chaos", Lynn, sitting on the divine throne, looks majestic and unmatched on the surface, but inside he's panicking like an old dog: 'Stop filling in the blanks! I really am not some indescribable source of horror, I just couldn't hold back this Fourth Calamity bunch!']