Xu Mo’s gaze lingered on He Jinfan for a few seconds.
He recalled that this guy likely possessed an item that allowed him to flee a long distance; otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to come here.
Perfect. The problem of making his exit could be left to this "Shining Yellow" to solve.
And so, he looked up at Wan Qianhong and spoke flatly:
“When I was dealing with the Mother of All Souls' will, I saved Bai Feifei.”
“She is currently unconscious and needs rest, so I have placed her on one of your camp's vehicles outside the red soil region. It is fine, there is no need for you to rush off to find her.”
Hearing Sinking Black's words, Wan Qianhong breathed a sigh of relief, but her heart also shuddered.
This powerhouse from the organization was truly unfathomable.
To be able to send Bai Feifei away over such a great distance while simultaneously fighting the power of an Evil God...
“Yellow,” Xu Mo said, looking at He Jinfan. “Come with me alone for a moment.”
Hearing the other party call his name, He Jinfan shuddered.
It was finally his turn!
He quickly caught up, his heart pounding in suspense.
With Sinking Black's strength, if he wanted to kill him, he wouldn't need to do this at all. Could this be a chance for him?
He walked obediently to Xu Mo's side and stopped.
Neither of them made another move, simply staring at each other.
By the looks of it, He Jinfan was clearly waiting for Sinking Black to use some profound method to whisk him away.
Xu Mo: #
He couldn't help but curse in his heart. This guy has absolutely no common sense!
Xu Mo forced his voice to remain tense as he said, “Let us go. Use your methods to take us outside the red soil region.”
He Jinfan understood instantly, his mind churning with shock.
It seemed this was a form of a test for him.
Furthermore, Sinking Black indeed knew about his escape item!
Fortunately, he hadn't tried to act smart earlier. If he had tried to run back then, there was no telling if he could have actually escaped.
He Jinfan squeezed a small round sphere in the palm of one hand while his other hand gripped Sinking Black's shoulder armor.
In the next second, with a whoosh, the two of them vanished before everyone's eyes without warning.
...
Wind and sand blew in their faces. Their surroundings had changed to the normal terrain of the North District, no longer the endless red soil.
Xu Mo felt quite envious. This pay-to-win character was indeed amazing; he hadn't been able to react to that teleportation at all.
For a moment, the Old-Timer felt a sudden surge of greed...
He looked around to confirm no one was nearby, then turned to He Jinfan and cleared his throat.
“Do you have anything you wish to say?”
Hearing this, He Jinfan stopped putting on airs. He felt it was better to be sincere in front of this person.
“Since you already know my background, you must understand me as well.”
“I merely admired your organization's prestigious reputation and yearned to join, which is why I was bold enough to impersonate one of you.”
“I wanted to ask... is there any chance for me to truly join the Hermit Society?”
His words were humble. Since there was no one else around, he didn't need to put up a front.
Xu Mo nodded, his tone betraying neither anger nor joy.
“Then do you think you are worthy?”
He Jinfan's mind began to spin rapidly.
Worthy? What does he mean by that? Is he looking down on me?
He couldn't help but start overanalyzing.
Compared to Wan Qianhong, his performance earlier was indeed a bit weak.
He seemed to have focused too much on posturing, but he did make some contribution, right? At least he didn't run away.
In terms of strength, Wan Qianhong had just become an Edgerunner.
Although an Edgerunner might not be much to a top-tier organization, she was still stronger than him.
Besides, that joining ritual earlier looked incredibly risky.
What if he couldn't endure it and literally exploded?
The more He Jinfan thought about it, the more nervous he became, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
Meanwhile, seeing him hanging his head and silent for so long, Xu Mo was growing impatient.
Is this guy overthinking again? Who knows what useless thoughts he's cooking up.
Xu Mo was here to extract a bribe!
This pay-to-win character definitely had plenty of good things on him, so Xu Mo had made a spontaneous decision to see if he could extort something. After all, he didn't wake up early for nothing.
Since the guy had already acknowledged him as his senior, shouldn't he offer up some tribute?
This guy's emotional intelligence was too low. Xu Mo couldn't just ask for it directly.
Why was he so dense?
“I see... you have quite a few good things on you.” Xu Mo didn't want to waste time and decided to be as direct as possible.
He Jinfan froze. Good things?
Then, it clicked. It seemed even this powerhouse was slightly interested in the secret he possessed.
“You praise me too highly, Senior,” He Jinfan said, weighing his words.
“Actually... I've never told anyone this, but I have a special ability that grants me three temporary treasures every day.”
“But it's not a Word Soul. I can't explain the exact details because, in truth, I haven't fully figured it out myself.”
Xu Mo: ...
Hearing this, Xu Mo's heart stirred.
Three temporary treasures?
This was the first time he had heard of such a thing.
However, it sounded highly consistent with the pay-to-win character's lore, where players could buy limited-time equipment.
But... fuck!
If they were temporary, then they were practically useless. They would disappear after a day, so what was the point of taking them?
The extortion had failed.
For an Old-Timer who considered it a loss if he didn't pick up money off the ground, this outcome was a bolt from the blue.
For a moment, he felt deeply disappointed.
At this moment, He Jinfan paused. He seemed to have realized something and said seriously:
“You asked me about my worthiness earlier. I think... I indeed might not be worthy of joining the organization yet!”
“However, I already understand the will of the Masked Hermit Society. One day, I will make myself worthy of the title of Shining Yellow!”
“I hope you are willing to wait for the day I become worthy.”
He Jinfan spoke with immense passion and emotion.
Xu Mo was speechless. In truth, if He Jinfan had just offered some good items as tribute, he would have been worthy right then and there.
But since the guy had expressed his loyalty with such chuunibyou passion, Xu Mo found it hard to say anything else.
He could only wave his hand.
“Until we meet again.”
He Jinfan was taken aback, then solemnly cupped his fists.
Not daring to waste any more words, he quickly pulled out the metal sphere again. Before leaving, he cast one last glance back, as if trying to etch Sinking Black's silhouette into his memory.
In the next second, he was gone.
Xu Mo stood in place for a few seconds. After confirming there were no heartbeats nearby, the black armor on his body began to peel away, dissolving into black mist and disappearing.
His figure suddenly shrank, reverting back to the frail young girl.
With the girl's face, Xu Mo still looked incredibly displeased. He took out his Turing City smartwatch and checked his current coordinates.
Then, he sprinted at full speed toward the camp, cursing furiously in his heart:
“That idiot He Jinfan!”
“Why the fuck didn't he just teleport me directly to the camp?!”
“You want to join the society? I'm going to squeeze you dry in the future!”
Rate on N.U.
