As if it wasn’t bad enough that they had to witness something that could get them killed, they also had to witness Loki make the matter worse by saying disrespectful things.
The two of them held their breath when they heard Loki say, "So what will it be, old man? Will you honor your contract, or should I ask the sect to seek justice for me?"
He had completely dragged Money Body’s face through the dirty mud with what he said. Money Body was even stunned, and his face stiffened when he heard what Loki said.
At first, the money cultivator didn’t believe what he just heard. But when he realized that he hadn’t misheard, he tried to smile and act as if he hadn’t just been offended. Unfortunately for him, his smile was stiff and awkward.
As he grimaced with a smile, he said, "Of course, you don’t need to ask the sect for anything. I am a man of my word."
Loki stared at him as if he didn’t believe him. Then he said with an ambiguous tone, "If you say so."
He didn’t say it, but it was clear that he didn’t believe Money Body. Money Body himself thought that Loki was telling everyone that he was an untrustworthy swindler.
If Loki had called out that he was an untrustworthy swindler, it would be the truth. He truly is untrustworthy, and he has swindled a lot of people. But that didn’t mean he would appreciate a runt like Loki saying it for everyone to hear.
Even though Loki didn’t actually say those words. It felt like he had said them to Money Body, and Money Body didn’t like it at all.
So the rank 8 cultivator snorted in displeasure before pointing at the world before them and saying, "It seems the worst has happened, and the world is now aware of our intrusion. We now have to decide whether to give a stealth approach another try or use brute force to break into the world, or give up now and return while we can."
Then he sneered at Loki and said, "The choice is yours to make, or great and wise leader. What do we do?"
He had been planning to make Loki feel superior and get carried away with pride so that Loki wouldn’t make things difficult for him. His plan was to lower his head a little bit, act humble, and let Loki have his fill of being superior without jeopardizing the mission by trying to seek fun through negative options.
He didn’t want Loki to prioritize having fun with the reward of the bet over the success of the mission. So he started by flattering Loki.
This is something he was willing to do even though he was a great rank 8 cultivator, because he had a lot riding on the success of this mission, and he didn’t want Loki to jeopardize it. Unfortunately, it seemed Loki had an insatiable appetite to humiliate him, so his plan didn’t work.
So he stopped trying completely and even decided to give up on the mission. If he had his way, he would give up on the mission completely and go back home. But now that he had kept his authority on this mission to Loki, he couldn’t make this choice on his own.
He could only try to nudge Loki in the direction he wanted by making the suggestion and hoping Loki would take it. Unfortunately for him, Loki was already aware of his plan and wouldn’t fall for it.
When Loki went over what Money Body just said, he realized that the money cultivator had given a third option that he hadn’t given in the last timeline. This third option was for them to give up on the mission and return.
He remembered vividly that Money Body had only presented the first two options to them after Ant Hill had failed. He also remembered that Money Body had been particularly harsh towards Ant Hill when she tried to give up on the mission.
When these memories flashed through his mind, he realized that Money Body was up to no good. So he smiled to himself and said inwardly, ’That’s it. Continue to resist. You’re only making this more enjoyable for me. After all, a rape is only fun when the victim resists.’
He still plans to prioritize the success of this mission, but he will definitely enjoy the process of gaining that success by trying his best to humiliate Money Body.
If there was a chance that Money Body wouldn’t kill him after this mission, he might reconsider this decision. But since he was going to die anyway, his mind was made up about having some fun before he died.
As these thoughts went through his mind, he said to Money Body, "I know that you’re unreconciled. You think I won by luck. I don’t like that, so I’ll give you another chance to prove yourself."
He patted his chest as he said, "I think we should get this over with and use force to break through the crystal shield. But if you think otherwise and you’re confident in your choice, you can say so, and we can bet again."
"If you think we should try stealth again and you succeed in gaining access to the small world with the homunculi, I will surrender your freedom to you. But if you fail again, I want to be able to control you to do anything, including killing yourself."
Then Loki asked him, saying, "What do you think about my generosity?"
Money Body didn’t reply for a while. He was silent because he was considering Loki’s offer.
Loki’s offer was truly tempting as it would give him the right to act independently on this mission. With this right, he could decide to quit at any time. This was why he was hesitating, even though the result of another failure would bankrupt him.
While he was thinking about the offer, Ant Hill became nervous. She was nervous because she was afraid that Money Body would take the deal.
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