【Jing Shui Liu Shen】: Crow, Dragon Soul didn't provoke you, did we? Declaring war just like that? Even if you are the strongest, you can't just slaughter the innocent, can you? Who would dare trade with Black Feather members if this continues?
"Exactly, declaring war for no reason. If you're so capable, show us the proof that Dragon Soul attacked you!"
You want proof, do you?
Cheng Shuili threw the evidence right into their faces!
She posted the same things in the regional channel that she had already shared in the group chat.
"I just love the way Boss Crow presents the evidence."
"Want hard evidence? Here it is! Happy now?"
"Did you even look at the evidence before asking for proof? Can you finish reading before voicing your opinions?"
"Finished reading. So Ling Yun and the others were also being instigated by Dragon Soul behind the scenes. No wonder Black Feather declared war."
"And trying to assassinate Boss Crow? That's insane! It's a first for our partition, too!"
"What? Assassinating Boss Crow? Did they succeed?"
"To the guy above, maybe check who posted the news first?"
After a portion of the people finished reviewing the evidence, those who had been neutral—or even slightly biased toward Dragon Soul—rapidly flipped their stance in the face of the ironclad proof.
"Holy crap, did Li Changyou really do it? Assassinating Crow? Has he lost his mind?"
"No wonder Black Feather declared war directly. Who could tolerate that? That's their leader! Forget Black Feather; even in our small faction, if someone assassinated our leader, we absolutely wouldn't be able to swallow our pride and stay silent!"
"Dragon Soul is digging its own grave here, acting like nothing ever happened. Isn't their skin a bit too thick?"
"Jing Shui Liu Shen was playing the innocent act earlier, isn't his face stinging? That slap was so loud I heard it all the way from inside my own vehicle."
"It's over. I have a feeling Dragon Soul is finished..."
Li Changyou watched the rapidly refreshing discussions in the regional channel, the veins on his forehead throbbing uncontrollably once more, while a sharp, piercing pain radiated from his temples.
He stared fixedly at the evidence Cheng Shuili had tossed out. After reviewing it himself, he realized there was seemingly no possibility of denial.
The video contained not only the confessions of those individuals but also the transaction records they had produced!
Everything he had done was dragged out into the light.
Cooperating with Ling Yun, sending people to assassinate Crow, telling the assassin to use their ID to find Crow and claim the bounty...
Li Changyou's head was buzzing. What should he do now?
Black Feather had even declared war on them.
Although Dragon Soul had gained some cohesion following the announcement of the grand regional leaderboard, facing an enemy like Black Feather meant they were still just a pile of loose sand!
Did he expect them to go head-to-head with Black Feather?
Li Changyou opened the faction channel.
After just one glance, he knew it was over.
The faction channel was filled with messages of resignation, all hoping for his approval.
Dragon Soul...
It was over.
His deputy stood to the side, his expression equally ghastly: "Guild Leader, we..."
Li Changyou suddenly raised his hand and slapped him hard across the face, his eyes nearly spitting fire!
"You were the one who found this guy, right? Didn't I tell you to find someone reliable? To find someone with a clean background? You've done a real good job, haven't you? Keeping the benefits in the family, so you asked your cousin to do it?"
The crisp sound of the slap echoed through the room.
The deputy staggered from the sudden blow. Clutching his face, he looked at the deranged-looking Li Changyou in disbelief. A flash of humiliation and resentment crossed his eyes, but fear dominated.
"Guild Leader... I, I didn't know he would..." the deputy attempted to defend himself, his voice trembling.
"Didn't know?! Can a simple 'I didn't know' wipe the slate clean?!"
Li Changyou grabbed him by the collar, his eyes bloodshot, spit nearly flying into the other man's face!
"It's all over now! Dragon Soul is finished! Are you satisfied?! Huh?!"
He slammed the deputy to the ground, his chest heaving violently with rage.
Li Changyou's arm was raised high, but it didn't come down again.
The constant stream of resignation requests in the faction channel felt like hammer blows, making his vision go black.
He knew the hearts of the people had scattered; this faction could no longer be led.
In the face of Black Feather's absolute strength and the ironclad evidence, any fluke or struggle appeared laughable.
And the culprit who had ruined everything...
"How did I not discover what kind of person you were sooner?"
Li Changyou looked at the deputy pinned to the floor, whose face was filled with terror and spite, and suddenly felt an extreme sense of exhaustion and absurdity wash over him.
How had he not realized it sooner...
This right-hand man who had followed him for so long, whom he believed he trusted most, was bone-deep incompetent and even dared to act against his orders for a bit of personal gain, ultimately burying the entire Dragon Soul?
That arm held high in the air eventually dropped powerlessly.
What was the point of hitting him again?
What good would killing him do?
Dragon Soul's morale was already shattered, and its destruction was imminent.
Was all of this really just this fool's fault?
No.
Li Changyou slowly straightened up, stumbling back two steps, staring at the window with hollow eyes.
More of it was his own ambition and greed, his misjudgment of the situation, and his underestimation of Crow's ruthlessness and decisiveness.
It was he who had pushed Dragon Soul into the abyss with his own hands.
"Get out."
Li Changyou's voice lacked its previous fury, leaving only an inescapable exhaustion and deathly silence, "Before I change my mind... get as far away as you can."
The deputy, as if granted amnesty, scrambled out of the room, not even daring to look back.
Li Changyou opened the door and took one final look at the territory he had rented with his entire fortune.
Almost every resignation request in the faction channel contained the same phrase: "I don't need the supplies I turned in; treat it as the fee for leaving Dragon Soul. Please approve this resignation."
The territory had no infrastructure; the supplies they had turned in were used as raw materials to provide energy for the Silver Piercing Bullet.
But unfortunately...
Crow didn't die.
And the supplies were gone.
Li Changyou's face was ashen. He wasn't entirely destitute; if he hadn't obtained this life-saving item, he never would have been bold enough to make a move against Black Feather.
He would definitely survive, but he would have to run like a rat.
He was alive now because of this item, and he was reduced to this wretched state also because of this item.
Truly, he lived by it and died by it.
There really is nothing new under the sun.
Li Changyou took one last look at the room where he had once been full of ambition, issuing orders.
Calling it a room was generous; it was actually the faction's warehouse and the only faction building Dragon Soul possessed.
He inhaled gently, momentarily feeling as if the room still held the lingering scent of past, hollow prosperity.
He had contacted Ling Yun with confidence and held 1599 in his grasp, yet now, only cold despair remained.
Li Changyou didn't hesitate further. He left the territory, returned to his vehicle, and pulled out that special item on which he had pinned all his hopes.
It was a palm-sized metal compass with an irregular shape.
This was the only special item Li Changyou had obtained.
Fate-Masking Compass.
Its effect was simple yet overbearing: once activated, it could forcibly mask a fatal fate targeting the user for a very short period!
The so-called "masking a fatal fate" was essentially a fake death. Once it took effect, it granted the player a chance to change their ID, erasing the ID used prior to the demise, while simultaneously providing the killer with every trace of the player's death!
It could deceive anyone, but unfortunately, it could only be used once.
...
Cheng Shuili took out the rocket launcher and arranged for Ai Lin to take a few people to bombard the Dragon Soul base.
As for herself, she intended to carry out a decapitation strike.
Not many people followed her, just Su Rui. The two of them sat in the vehicle, repeatedly using the Designated Player Duel Card.
Su Rui actually didn't quite understand, and Cheng Shuili, being a person who liked to observe, noticed this sentiment and explained.
"Li Changyou is an old fox. Only an old fox wouldn't wait to die inside the territory like the other factions we've declared war on before," Cheng Shuili smiled, her expression resolute: "He will definitely come out, and he definitely has a life-saving item in his hands. Otherwise, a person like him would never dare to lay a hand on Black Feather."
Cheng Shuili's judgment was terrifyingly precise.
Just as she and Su Rui were repeatedly using the Designated Player Duel Card, searching for Li Changyou's tracks like casting a net, the card finally succeeded!
The scene switched instantly, and the highway officially merged!
Today's affair could finally come to an end.
As the dizziness of the scene switch faded, Cheng Shuili and Su Rui's vehicle had already appeared on an unfamiliar stretch of highway, looking out toward the vehicle parked not far ahead.
It was Li Changyou!
He wasn't even staying inside the vehicle; instead, he was standing on the road. Although his body was tense, he wasn't holding any weapons.
Cheng Shuili's eyes narrowed. It was too abnormal.
According to her understanding of the old fox, such people were extremely protective of their own lives.
And like a cunning rabbit with three burrows, even if such a person failed, they wouldn't easily submit.
Su Rui wanted to open the door and get out, but was held back by Cheng Shuili, "Be careful of any traps. Are you a good shot?"
Su Rui stopped her movement and said honestly: "A bit more accurate than you, Boss."
Cheng Shuili: "..."
Fine, a bit more accurate was still accurate.
"Remember how 1599 came to kill me?" Cheng Shuili took out her rifle and, right in front of Su Rui, loaded the bullets one by one, "You have a full magazine; turn him into a honeycomb for me!"
Su Rui immediately grew excited, her eyes sparkling as she took the rifle. She stood behind cover, carefully cracked a small opening in the car window, and extended the barrel.
Li Changyou watched the barrel extending from the crack in the window. Instead of showing terror, a strange, eerie calm—almost like relief—appeared on his face, and his lips even curled into a twisted smile.
He didn't attempt to run, nor did he make any move to draw a weapon; he simply stood there quietly, as if welcoming an already destined end.
"Crow!" he suddenly roared with all his might, his voice sounding abnormally jarring on the empty highway, "I did it! That's right! I just can't stand you! Why are you so strong? Why is everyone afraid of you? I don't accept it!"
He spread his arms wide, looking like a madman: "Come on! Kill me! If I could force you to take action yourself, then it was worth it!"
Is that so?
Cheng Shuili raised her eyebrows slightly, ignoring what the man was saying, and simply told Su Rui quietly, "Ms. Su, make sure to aim well."
Almost the moment Cheng Shuili's words fell, Su Rui pulled the trigger!
"Da-da-da-da!"
The rifle spat out blazing tongues of fire, bullets pouring out like a torrential storm, precisely enveloping Li Changyou's position.
Cheng Shuili watched with her own eyes as dozens of bullets pierced through Li Changyou's body.
He fell backward slowly, seemingly truly lifeless.
Cheng Shuili felt even stranger. A person like Li Changyou, just offering his neck to be slaughtered?
She didn't believe it.
Cheng Shuili opened the car door and walked over with Su Rui. The corpse had already vanished, leaving only some supplies on the highway.
It was no different from killing previous players, but Cheng Shuili just felt something was wrong.
She circled the supplies and checked them, but found no anomalies; it seemed as if this person really had died.
Even the regional announcement regarding the dissolution of the faction began to scroll in the regional channel.
Various phenomena seemed to indicate that there was nothing unusual about this.
But Li Changyou's behavior before his death was like a thorn stuck in Cheng Shuili's heart.
She lowered her eyes in thought for a moment, then suddenly raised her hand to turn the Abyss Ring on her finger, "Ring Spirit, stop pretending to sleep. See if there's anything unusual here."
The Abyss Ring grew slightly warm, and a trace of barely perceptible aura spread out like a ripple, sweeping across the area.
The Ring Spirit's voice, tinged with a hint of surprise amidst its laziness, echoed in her mind: "Oh? Interesting... traces of the fate trajectory being forcibly distorted, and it's quite fresh. Master, the person you just killed definitely didn't die."
As expected!
Cheng Shuili's eyes turned sharp, yet a heavy stone in her heart fell into place.
Knowing the enemy was still alive was definitely better than not knowing.
"Be specific."
"A very clever method of substituting death. It should have been some kind of item, but I didn't smell the aura of a colleague, so what this person had must have been a one-time use item," the Ring Spirit's voice carried a hint of amusement, "It's what you humans often call sloughing off the cicada shell. He should have a brand new ID now, blending into the crowd like a drop of water into the ocean."
"Can I still find him?"
"Difficult," the Ring Spirit answered quite bluntly, "Unless he appears before you voluntarily, otherwise... it's like looking for a needle in a haystack."
Looking for a needle in a haystack?
Not necessarily.
Cheng Shuili remained silent for a moment, looking at the pile of Li Changyou's leftover supplies on the ground, her gaze icy.
This person's ambition and greed were too heavy. Since the grand regional merge could provide him with assistance, Cheng Shuili wasn't afraid that he wouldn't pop his head out when the time came.
Besides... was there really no way to find him before the server merge?
Cheng Shuili opened the regional channel and took a look. Everyone was currently discussing the Dragon Soul affair, and a portion of Dragon Soul's members were also looking for new factions.
She casually flipped through a few comments and suddenly thought of a very important question, "Ring Spirit, did his appearance change as well?"
"As expected of my Master, discovering the crux of the problem so quickly."
The Ring Spirit's voice was unhurried, yet it let Cheng Shuili hear a trace of heat, "Don't leave out details next time; this is my order to you."
"Yes, Master." The Ring Spirit chuckled twice, adding: "His appearance hasn't changed. If you follow that path to search, Master, I estimate you'll be able to find him quite soon."
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