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Chapter 652:

It was never a fair fight from the beginning.

Puppeteer knew every one of Lin Sanjiu’s Evolving Abilities and Special Items, but Lin Sanjiu knew literally nothing about him.

The level of their speed and strength were pretty close after Lin Sanjiu had transformed into Zeus. Nevertheless, even with Lin Sanjiu’s memories, Zeus Lin was still forced into a passive position. Not only were all his attacks neutralized by [Photoshop CS]’s locked layer, but his movement was also greatly restricted by Puppeteer.

Right now, Zeus Lin was obviously on tenterhooks.

Even though he still had a smile on his face, droplets of cold sweat began to ooze out and colonize his forehead. He shifted his two large eyeballs left and right very fast like a pair of birds unable to find a tree to perch. On the other hand, Puppeteer was relaxed. He kept a neutral expression fixed on his face as he sauntered forward until he stood but an inch away from Zeus Lin. Then, he opened his mouth and queried in a lighthearted tone, “Why have you stopped? Keep it up. Didn’t you say that you still have some aces up your sleeves? Show them to me, then.”

Zeus Lin gave an embarrassed cough as he ran his fingers across the bandage around his neck. His eyes shifted even faster.

Maxin seized his chance and took a few quick steps around the carpet, appearing behind Old Hag. Sensing his arrival, Old Hag pulled Ji Shanqing behind him, pitched his voice low, and asked, “What do you want?”

He looked both startled and excited. He positioned himself in between Ji Shanqing and Maxin to prevent the latter from getting any closer to the former. Then, with his head held high, he said, “I know you want to express your gratitude since I have saved your life, but now is not the right time.”

Truth to be told, Maxin did not feel too good about being saved by him.

“The more people the better. We can watch each other’s backs,” replied Maxin shortly after. He stopped a few steps away from Old Hag and looked towards his back.

He saw Ji Shanqing standing obediently beside the old man. The wind played rough games with his long hair, flattening his hair against his face and shrouding his expression. Maxin wondered why he did not use the Special Item he snatched from Hegel to break himself free from Old Hag’s clutches. Since he was capable of avoiding both Rize and Old Hag during the game, it should not be a problem for him to do so, as there was only one person looking after him right now.

Apparently, Ji Shanqing was not aware of this. He kept his eyes fixed on Zeus Lin and Puppeteer. Their fight had reached a standstill. None of them knew why, but it seemed that Puppeteer wasn’t really trying to kill Zeus Lin.

“She has to hand it over herself...” murmured Ji Shanqing under his breath. “None of us can do anything if she refuses to hand over that thing...”

‘Oh, the [Human Traffickers Rosters]...’

Zeus Lin giggled suddenly, pulling Maxin out of his thoughts. He had apparently heard the grand prize’s soliloquy as he chirped, “You guys are trying so hard because you want to get Lin Sanjiu back, aren’t you? This is not something complicated. I am sure we can talk this over and come to some kind of middle ground. Don’t you think so, grand prize?”

Ji Shanqing jerked his head up and looked at Zeus Lin.

“Oh my dear Little Pep, please don’t give me that face. In fact, I’m actually helping you,” said Zeus Lin. Then, he rolled his large eyes, flicking them from Puppeteer to Ji Shanqing before he continued to draw out his vowels, “Grand prize, why don’t you tell them that little plan of yours on how to save your sister? Also, if you are willing to give up your life to have your sister back, I will do whatever you say. Little Pep will be here to supervise me.”

Even Maxin, who half understood the situation, knew that the method to save Lin Sanjiu was the only thing that could keep Ji Shanqing alive.

Ji Shanqing stood frozen, still as a statue. He looked at Zeus Lin with a deer-in-the-headlights expression as if he did not understand what Zeus Lin was trying to say. It took several seconds until the words completely sank into him, and an apprehensive expression crawled upon his face as he spoke haltingly, “No... no... you...”

“No? How disappointing,” Zeus lamented as he patted his chest. “Seems like your feelings towards your sister are not as strong as you claimed. The reason you are trying your best to keep her alive is that she can protect you from getting unwrapped by others. And I suppose that you do not know how to save her, correct? You are just stalling for time.”

Puppeteer tilted his head and glanced at Ji Shanqing out of the corner of his eyes.

“No... no, it’s you. You are the one who is stalling for time. Because you are finding a way to save yourself from getting killed by us!” Ji Shanqing began in a trembling voice, but gathered more confidence by degrees, and finally found his voice. “There is no way I will disclose anything before my sister is back!”

Zeus Lin sighed and shook his head, the disappointment written all over his face. Lifting his finger, he tapped his cheek and smiled, “Alas, although I believe that even a sharpshooter may miss the target, I’m still surprised that a person as smart and cautious as you would make such a grave mistake.”

‘What?’

Maxin did not understand and turned his head around. There, he saw Ji Shanqing’s face turn pale. All color had drained from his face. It seemed like he had realized he had a slip of the tongue too.

“You realize now?”

Zeus giggled. With a swift motion of his hand, a card materialized on his palm. He rolled his eyes and began reading the description on the card. Puppeteer did not stop him. He stood aside and waited for Zeus to finish his sentence. “This is the thing that you guys are looking for, right? If Lin Sanjiu knew about this roster earlier, then I might not be here right now. Anyway, let’s see... First, you want to capture me, then force me to hand over the roster. And just now you said I’m finding a way to prevent myself from getting killed?”

Zeus gave a heartfelt laugh as he willed the card away.

“This is not something hard to guess. You want to force me to hand over the roster before killing me, correct?” Zeus Lin drawled as he inspected Ji Shanqing’s face. The paler he was, the happier he became. “You guys must be pretty desperate if you are betting your luck on such a useless method.”

Then, he swiveled his head to face Puppeteer. He winked his eyes and offered him a grin, “Since you already know his method, you can start unwrapping him now, Little Pep.”

“Why do you want me to unwrap him so much?” Puppeteer asked.

“Easy, I want to destroy everything that Lin Sanjiu tried to protect.” Then, as if Zeus could not suppress his excitement anymore, he let out a contented sigh. “So, you don’t have to worry that I will escape... Because, I want to destroy you too.”

The moment the words tumbled past his lips, something unseen ripped open the air and rushed to his front. Startled, Zeus retaliated by somersaulting to the back. He stretched his arm and reached out for the thing, but he was still a tad slower. The Pestilence found its chance and rammed itself into his half-closed lips, causing Zeus to double over as he succumbed to a spell of coughing.

Snot and tears flowed out profusely from Zeus’s eyes and nose. Puppeteer did not seize his chance and press on but took a step back. His figure blurred, and when he next appeared, he stood beside Ji Shanqing and grabbed his arm.

“Just for the words you said,” Puppeteer hissed, his face turning darker, “I’m not going to be lenient on either you or Lin Sanjiu anymore.” He turned his head to Ji Shanqing, a blade appearing in his palm. “It’s time to get the job done.”

Everything happened too fast. The last memory Maxin had was of him dashing forward. Then, the second he recovered his senses, he was flying through the sky. It was not long before he landed on a platform with a mighty smack that sent a tremble down his body.

He fought the excruciating pain and dragged himself up. He raised his guard and waited for Puppeteer’s next assault. However, when he jerked his head up, he realized that he was wrong.

Puppeteer had a surprised look on his face. With a raised brow, he stared at the grand prize in his hand. Only now did Maxin realize it was Ji Shanqing who tossed him away.

“You still can’t get it around your head, can you?” His countenance was still as pale as snow, his hair fluttering in the wind. Sending a cold stare at Maxin, he snarled, “They kept calling me the grand prize. You still don’t understand that?”

Returning his gaze with a stupefied look, Maxin was at a loss of words. After going through a handful of apocalyptic worlds, he was no stranger to some filthy activities that involved gifting young ladies as compensation to those higher echelons.

‘Is that not the case?’

The carpet trembled once more.

Zeus’s coughing spell was within earshot. He was standing a few steps away from them. It seemed like the Pestilence could do nothing more than just cause some itchiness in his throat.

The remaining posthumans retreated from this area. Zeus did not initiate his attack but stood with his back upright, coughing incessantly.

“Can’t you see that Zeus is trying to mess around with us? Stay back! I can deal with this on my own!” Ji Shanqing continued to say in a cold voice. “Don’t worry, Puppeteer can’t kill me.”

“Hoh?” The man standing beside him chuckled. “May I know why not?”

Ji Shanqing quickly lowered his head. He was so afraid of him, he dared not look Puppeteer in the eye.

“I know you want to meet the highest god. And I also know that you want to return to the Salvation of God to get your revenge,” he murmured with downcast eyes. “Whether or not you can save my sister, you are going to meet the highest god, right?”

“So?”

Ji Shanqing was so nervous that his words slurred, “Have you for—forgotten th-that you need the Zeus to escort you to meet the highest god? We have a lot of Zeus here, but...”

Standing as stiff as a ramrod, Maxin followed his gaze and looked at Zeus Lin. He had walked closer to them. Just like the freeze game he used to play during his childhood, whenever he turned his head around, Zeus would appear closer to them.

“I’m the victor of this game, and I’m also the only one who did not attack Zeus before. They will only bring me to meet the highest god. If you want to meet the highest god, you will have to go through me.”

Ji Shanqing did not raise his head. He refused to look at either Puppeteer or Maxin.

“That’s true.”

It was hard to say whether it was Zeus or Puppeteer that looked scarier right now. Half of Puppeteer’s face scrunched up as he ran his fingers gently across Ji Shanqing’s cheeks, causing the skin to turn dull and become plastic.

“Fine, I will let you live a little longer,” Puppeteer harrumphed as he lifted his finger, his face still clouded over with anger. The atmosphere was tense, and it seemed that the air around them had stopped moving as well.

Zeus’s face appeared on his shoulder.

“You are too careless,” he said sickeningly. “You think you know every one of my moves, so you are not afraid of me. Unfortunately, there is one ability that Lin Sanjiu never used in front of you before, my dear Little Pep.” The more Zeus Lin spoke, the wider his grin became. “She is a poor wretch, but I am not.”