Zhao Longfei said calmly, "That is to say, if someone else wants to contact assassins through the Annihilation Church to kill you, they will have to pay at least two hundred thousand bottles of Sequence magic potion. If someone really is willing to pay that price to have you killed, I'm afraid more than half of the people with the Snake insignia would be tempted."
Qin Siyang shrank his head, "Two hundred thousand bottles? The premium is way too outrageous! Am I really worth that much? Two thousand bottles, no, two hundred bottles, no, twenty bottles of Sequence magic potion would be much more appropriate!"
Li Tianming said with disdain, "One moment you think it's too little, the next you think it's too much. You really are full of pointless nonsense!"
"Nonsense? Who would ever think their life is too long! The people on the Snake list, none of them are pushovers! I was able to kill Yamamoto Taro because Qin Yingguang took out his younger brother first. If the two of them had come together, it would have been a miracle if I even managed to escape. Now the price has gone up a hundredfold, and someone even stronger than him from the Snake wanted list comes after me. How am I supposed to survive?"
"There's no need to panic that much," Zhao Longfei comforted him, "Two hundred thousand bottles of Sequence magic potion is something even the major forces you're familiar with would find extremely hard to scrape together. Even the Sequence Ability Management Department, which is responsible for distributing Sequence magic potions within the United Government, would not be able to secretly divert two hundred thousand bottles without anyone noticing."
"Moreover, two hundred thousand bottles of Sequence magic potion would be enough to boost the strength of Annihilation Church members stuck at Sequence Level Five by several times. If the United Government found out that someone was secretly funding an evil church bent on overthrowing the United Government and all of humanity, it would definitely mobilize every resource it could and pursue that person to the bitter end."
"When that happens, no matter whether that person belongs to the Three Great Chamber of Commerce, the Four Great Universities, or the Six Great Legions, they would be completely erased from the safe zone."
"So you can rest assured. Absolutely no one will give the Annihilation Church the price they're asking for."
Qin Siyang finally let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he didn't know if the Annihilation Church had suddenly lost their minds over money, to ask for such an outrageous price.
But then he thought about it again. As the largest church within the safe zone, they probably wouldn't make such a low-level mistake, right?
So he asked again, "If no one can offer two hundred thousand bottles of Sequence magic potion, then what's the point of the Annihilation Church releasing this information?"
"Setting an astronomical price isn't for making a deal, but for stating their position. It shows that the Annihilation Church believes assassinating you is something that requires paying an enormous price, and that they will no longer measure the value of the mission with simple Sequence magic potions or money. If anyone still wants to hire the Annihilation Church to kill you, they must offer benefits substantial enough to move them."
Qin Siyang tensed up instantly after hearing this, "What you're saying is, the Annihilation Church asks for an absurd price, and the people who want me dead bargain it down? And if they reach an agreement, they'll still send people to assassinate me?"
"Your question makes me feel like I'm teaching kindergarten," Zhao Longfei said impatiently, "Do you really not understand what the words 'reach an agreement' mean? As long as the conditions are agreed upon, forget killing you, even killing Gu Weiyang, the Secretary-General of the United Government, someone would take the job! The real issue is whether the conditions can be agreed upon, and how they could be agreed upon!"
Qin Siyang nodded, "I panicked and lost my head for a moment. You're right."
Zhao Longfei's expression turned stern, "What are you panicking for! You haven't even gotten that far yet. Anyone who becomes a prominent figure within the safe zone, every single one of them, has experienced assassination attempts."
"Even Professor Li, who focuses solely on research, has been assassinated before. And Professor Zhang, he gets assassinated on average about once a month!" [T/N: Lol]
"If you want to rise above the rest, you must face open attacks and hidden blades."
Li Tianming looked at Zhao Longfei in surprise. He hadn't expected him to be so thoroughly aware of his and Zhang Kuang's situation.
After lowering his head and thinking for a few seconds, he felt it was only natural. The Zhao family had risen through information. He and Zhang Kuang held very high ranks under the Tiger insignia, so being closely monitored was to be expected.
He sighed and said, "Little Qin, this is also why I've always hoped you'd play it safe. When Old Zhang was assassinated, there were several times when I was right by his side. It really was a narrow escape from death."
Qin Siyang shook his head, "There's no choice. I've already come this far. Whether it's life or death, I can only keep going."
"You could actually retreat slowly."
"Retreat slowly? You mean letting me keep cutting off my own flesh and backing down step by step, until my last bit of value is squeezed dry and no one cares anymore? Old Li, call me greedy or call me reckless if you want, but retreating is something I absolutely can't do."
Li Tianming's expression was complicated. He smiled, "I knew you would say that, but I still couldn't help asking. Fine. I won't bring this up with you ever again."
Qin Siyang looked at Li Tianming firmly, signaling for him not to worry too much about him.
Zhao Longfei then said, "This is what people call 'misfortune falling from the sky.' All kinds of trouble appear suddenly. If you only think about avoiding them, you won't be able to hide. Only by strengthening yourself can you remain unmoved amid the storm."
"Little Qin, how long until you can open the path of the believer?"
Qin Siyang didn't hide anything, "I'm currently collecting sacrifices and need Hu Chan's help. That's also why I've been helping him so much lately."
"As for how long until I can break through, it's hard to say. But I can definitely get it done before the semester starts."
"Before school starts? That speed is acceptable, I suppose. It would be best if you could be even faster."
Qin Siyang was displeased, "Acceptable? President Zhao, that's not fair. Who else breaks through as fast as I do?"
Zhao Longfei's gaze was calm, "Who else has as many problems piled onto their backside as you do?"
Qin Siyang could only say, "Fine. I'll speed it up and squeeze Hu Chan even harder."
"You little brat… forget it, do as you like. I don't have much of a relationship with Hu Chan anyway, so there's no need for me to speak up for him. You two keep reading the report."
Qin Siyang's eyes returned to the report, and he looked again at the third memory they had been discussing all along.
[Kill Qin Siyang and go to the Sigma Zone to collect the mission reward from the head of the assassin department: two thousand bottles of Sequence magic potion.]
This time, setting aside his concern over his own life and death, he noticed the other information in it.
'The Sigma Zone again?'
'From the clues so far, the Sigma Zone really seems a bit too chaotic. Better stay far away from that area in the future.'
Then he looked at the final important memory.
[Someone has posted a mission to kill Chu Baxing. The price is pretty good. But taking it would likely get you killed, so forget it.]
"Kill Chu Baxing?", Qin Siyang's brows first tightened, then he broke into a grin.
"Serves him right! I knew that kid was hated by people and dogs alike. Someone was bound to want him taken care of."
His own misfortune was depressing, but Chu Baxing's bad luck brought him some relief.
Seeing Qin Siyang's schadenfreude, Zhao Longfei said, "I thought you would take this information to Chu Xiao'ang and squeeze some benefits out of him."
"Squeeze benefits?", Qin Siyang shook his head.
"Chu Xiao'ang is a real fox. With no time, place, or assassin known, he'd at most toss me a few scraps. I'm not interested in that kind of petty deal."
"Then what do you want to do?"
Qin Siyang wore a strange grin, "Of course, wait to offer shovel when it's snowing."
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