Tampering
On the lonely and deserted street, the Assassin walked forward silently with his head lowered.
He didn't turn back to look at those two young monsters, and he also knew the other party wouldn't take the initiative to chase after him. At this moment, his mood was very complicated... The successive "injuries" brought to him by Chen Ling, Jian Changsheng, and Sun Bumian estimatedly required killing over a dozen ordinary participants consecutively to recover a little bit of self-confidence.
Just as he was racking his brains recalling his previous bitter cultivation, reflecting on whether he had been idle, a figure wearing a fluorescent robe unhurriedly walked over from the opposite side.
That was a referee with "06" written on his chest. He merely glanced indifferently at the Assassin, then withdrew his gaze and walked straight forward.
Naturally, the Assassin wouldn't have any other reaction either, just walking forward on his own...
The two quietly brushed past each other.
...
At the same time.
The exhausted Jian Changsheng slowly sat on the side of the road, finally letting out a long sigh of relief in relaxation.
"How about it? I saved your life, we're considered Square and Even, right?" Sun Bumian bent down, looking into Jian Changsheng's eyes and smiling.
"You..."
Although Jian Changsheng's anger had indeed mostly dissipated, seeing that grinning face, he inexplicably wanted to punch him... Perhaps because this guy's smile was too punchable, Jian Changsheng felt it was very difficult to be calm and even-tempered.
"Who is Square and Even with you?" Jian Changsheng gritted his teeth and spoke. "You saving me this time can only offset the grudge of you almost making me die at the hands of the Dragon-Strangling Warriors last time... But that kick in the Gray World hasn't been clearly settled yet!"
Sun Bumian was somewhat helpless. He spread his hands,
"Then what do you want? Let's fight another match now?"
"Now... now won't do." Jian Changsheng waved his hand weakly. "We'll fight next time. I'll owe you this grudge for now."
"..."
Sun Bumian seemed to have remembered something. He conjured up those four sticks of Candied Haws from just now again, grabbing them in his palm. "By the way, conjured these for you... Don't waste them."
"No, where did you hide these four sticks of Candied Haws?" Jian Changsheng couldn't help but retort.
"Hehe, Path of the Actor, it's very normal to be able to conjure some small things."
Sun Bumian's eyes crinkled into two slits with his smile.
Jian Changsheng looked at him and the four sticks of Candied Haws in his hand. After hesitating for a moment, he still took them over.
Maintaining the Domain for so long, Jian Changsheng's consumption was indeed not small. If he could replenish some energy, it was naturally for the best.
Jian Changsheng took a bite of the Candied Haws and felt the taste was really not bad. After directly stripping an entire stick, he left one stick for himself, and then distributed the other two sticks to Sun Bumian:
"Don't just watch me eat. You conjured the Candied Haws, you also eat two."
Hearing this sentence, Sun Bumian's face suddenly turned pale. After glancing weirdly at those two bright red sticks of Candied Haws, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly...
"—Blergh!!"
He turned his head and started dry heaving.
Jian Changsheng: ???????
Seriously bro, what do you mean by this?!
Are your Candied Haws proper Candied Haws? Ah?!!
Seeing Sun Bumian's reaction, Jian Changsheng felt the Candied Haws in his hand were instantly unappetizing. For a time, eating it wasn't right, not eating it wasn't right either...
Just as he was conflicted, a figure as conspicuous as a firefly walked over from the distance.
"... Referee?"
Jian Changsheng and the dry heaving Sun Bumian simultaneously looked at that person, without much reaction.
In the struggle in the Old District, the figures of the referees could often be seen. They wouldn't interfere in the battles, only make some records, and notify the medical team to collect the corpses... Therefore, the two didn't think much of it.
Until they found that this referee was actually walking straight towards them, their hearts raised for a moment.
"What's the situation? We didn't break any rules, right?"
Jian Changsheng was at a loss. He suddenly glanced at the Candied Haws in his hand, turned to ask Sun Bumian, and asked a sentence as if possessed by a ghost, "Did you inject stimulants into this?"
"? What nonsense are you talking about."
Amidst the puzzled gazes of the two, the referee slowly stood still in front of them.
His gaze first met Sun Bumian's eyes for a long time, and then turned to look at Jian Changsheng. Not knowing if it was Little Jian's illusion, he seemed to have seen "disgust", "resentment", and a tiny trace of "Killing Intent" in this referee's eyes...
That referee raised his hand and patted Jian Changsheng's shoulder,
"You did well, child."
Jian Changsheng: ?
After saying this sentence, the referee ignored the two and continued to walk forward. The firefly-like robe gradually disappeared from the view of the two.
"This referee, why is he being baffling." Sun Bumian's eyes were full of puzzlement.
Looking at Jian Changsheng beside him on the other hand, from his original bewilderment, he turned sluggish. After his pupils contracted slightly, he revealed a 'seen a ghost' expression!
"He... He-he-he-he... He actually..."
"What?" Sun Bumian was endlessly confused.
"He-he-he..." Jian Changsheng stuttered, ultimately finally organizing his words and dropping a bombshell,
"He is Six of Hearts!!!"
...
Not bad, this kid isn't stupid yet.
Chen Ling calculated secretly in his heart as he went further away.
Ever since he took care of Referee 06 and replaced his identity, Chen Ling used his knife to scratch up this referee's original face, then threw it to the side of the road and notified the medical team to come collect the corpse.
With a mutilated face, the medical team wouldn't be able to confirm his identity in a short time. It was estimated they would only think this was some unlucky participant. By the time they repaired the facial flesh and reported upwards, the struggle would probably be over...
However, even if his actions were discovered, it didn't matter. After all, the manual had stated "no matter what methods are used", he wouldn't be punished for this. And the reason why Chen Ling blurred the referee's face and delayed his exposure time was because he still needed to use this referee identity to do an even bigger thing.
As for Jian Changsheng... although Chen Ling was full of resentment towards him, at this node, it wasn't the time for revenge yet.
Implicitly hinting at his current identity to him, whether it was good for him, Sun Bumian, or himself... at least it avoided a situation where the three of the 6-series fought amongst themselves.
A streak of aurora flashed in the depths of Chen Ling's eyes, and voices followed closely, sounding out from the Walkie-talkie:
"Zzzzzzz..."
"It's been almost ten hours since the struggle began. How is the situation now?"
"Currently forty-six people have been eliminated by death. These people were all killed by a few specific individuals. Most people are still hiding their strength and staying in the dark."
"The progress is a bit too slow... we need to give them some stimulation."
"Has anyone found the 'Dark Palace'?"
"Not yet. Do we need to manually release the 'Dark Palace' in advance?"
"It's still too early to release it now... Let's wait another two hours."
Hearing this sentence, Chen Ling's eyes narrowed!
His fingertips pinched in the void. The intercom signal intercepted by him in mid-air was tampered with in an instant, pausing for a moment before reaching the other referees' Walkie-talkies!
"Zzzzzzz..."
"Director, Director? Is the signal on your side not very good?"
"Zzzzzzz... It's fine, it should be good now." The Director's voice sounded again in all the referees' Walkie-talkies. "I was saying, it's still too early to release it now, we have to wait a while... But before this, it's best to send someone to confirm the layout of the 'Dark Palace' first, to avoid any accidents."
"Okay Director, who should we send?"
"Just send... Number 06."
Chen Ling held the Walkie-talkie, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.