Chapter 49: Into Nature (8)
After Yu Qimiao’s player bracelet displayed the notification, it vanished into thin air.
His wrist was left bare.
IF was so realistic that the skin beneath the bracelet was two full shades paler than the surrounding skin that had been exposed to wind and sun.
They had been forcibly brought into IF, compelled to participate in this deadly game, and made to wear player bracelets against their will.
Many players had imagined the moment they would finally remove theirs.
Yet now that Yu Qimiao’s bracelet was gone, all he saw were his companions’ worried expressions.
His skin was becoming unusually dry.
Because he had failed to reclaim his identity, Yu Qimiao would remain an animal forever from this point onward—the spindlefish identity he had drawn yesterday and had not yet had the chance to replace.
“I’ll find a way to take you out of this world.” Su Qiong blinked away the tears in his eyes, his gaze becoming exceptionally determined. “Wait here for me.”
“…All right.” Yu Qimiao found it increasingly difficult to speak. He managed to leave behind one final sentence. “I’ll wait for you.”
Holding the sand ball in his hands, Su Qiong turned and left.
“Wait. I’m coming with you.” Although Su Qiong had said nothing, ERROR could roughly guess where he intended to go.
An’an had originally planned to follow, but after some thought, he stopped.
“I’ll find the remaining Circle Lord fragments.”
At the beginning of the game, the NPCs had clearly told them that each Circle was controlled by an NPC’s will.
Therefore, an NPC had to be capable of saving Yu Qimiao.
The problem was that Into Nature’s Circle Lord was too fragmented. They did not know which fragment controlled this matter, nor whether a single fragment could alter it or whether all four had to act together.
Yu Qimiao was nearly fully transformed into a fish. With fingers already growing scales, he struggled to write four characters:
I’ll trouble you all…
Before he could finish the last character, even his right to communicate through writing was taken away.
Previously, while he still possessed player status, even a survival challenge had never rendered him this powerless.
Yu Qimiao realized that “becoming an animal” was not merely a punishment for failing the game.
It was a complete transformation of the player into a genuine animal.
Their form, consciousness, and way of survival would all be utterly changed.
Lu Shufan noticed and immediately carried Yu Qimiao back into freshwater.
“Fishy is very weak right now. I’ll stay and protect him.”
“What about me?” Shi Yuntian suddenly looked completely lost, his heavy blade resting on his shoulder.
Only after the words left his mouth did he realize that ever since joining the guild, he had always been directed by Yu Qimiao.
He hated nothing more than feeling like a puppet, yet every time, he had unconsciously followed Yu Qimiao’s decisions.
“Boss Shi, just do whatever you normally do!” Lu Shufan said. “Fishy is like this now. He can’t control you anymore.”
“…Oh.” Shi Yuntian responded, unexpectedly revealing a rare trace of dejection.
Moi and Qiyi volunteered, “Brother Shi, come with us.”
“We can sense tiny details. Maybe we can do something to help Guild Leader Yu.”
“All right.” Shi Yuntian dragged his heavy blade and followed them away.
From behind, he looked like a stray dog that had lost its owner.
Meanwhile, Su Qiong had already returned to the International Animal Organization he had visited before.
The place was in complete disarray, clearly having been swept through by other players.
When Su Qiong came here earlier, he had been tricked into attending a meeting and heard about the spindlefish.
The spindlefish that had stolen Yu Qimiao’s identity should have been here, only to be accidentally killed by another player.
—Or perhaps deliberately.
Su Qiong had proactively cooperated with other guilds and shared the information he found.
More than half of [Into Nature] had already passed. By now, all the players knew that the relationship between humans and animals operated in both directions. If the animal that stole a player’s identity died, that player would remain in Circle Three forever.
Or rather, they would remain in IF forever.
It was difficult to say whether anyone had deliberately exploited this rule.
Su Qiong suddenly regretted his actions.
He knew not every player possessed goodwill, yet he had still wanted to help them.
If Su Qiong had not shared the information, those malicious players might have remained in the chaotic battle zones of their habitats, fighting one another to the death.
Then Yu Qimiao would not have ended up like this.
“Su Qiong.” ERROR called out to him and abruptly said, “It isn’t your fault.”
“…Do you know what I’m thinking?”
“Your thoughts are too easy to guess,” ERROR commented. “You’re overly kind, possess too strong a sense of morality, and enjoy forcing yourself to bear things.”
“You’re right.” Su Qiong showed no intention of arguing.
“The greatest difference between you and humans is that you aren’t selfish enough,” ERROR continued. “Ordinary people would absolve themselves, find reasons and excuses. Only a fool would take responsibility for something that wasn’t their fault.”
“Oh.” Su Qiong said gloomily, “I’m a fool.”
ERROR: “???”
Full marks for reading comprehension, huh?
ERROR made himself clearer.
“I mean that you don’t need to take any responsibility for this.”
“Then Yu Qimiao…”
“He’s far more mature than you. He definitely won’t blame you,” ERROR said with certainty.
Even if Su Qiong truly had made a mistake, considering how much Yu Qimiao doted on him, he probably would not blame him much.
“Of course, you don’t need any reason to want to save him either. That’s simply because you’re…” ERROR thought for a moment and found a relatively fitting phrase. “Kindhearted and beautiful.”
He had originally wanted to say it was a touching display of maternal devotion and filial piety.
“I see.” Su Qiong did not entirely understand the distinction, but his emotions seemed to lighten.
The shackles called guilt loosened around him.
“Let’s find the animal that stole Yu Qimiao’s identity first. We may still discover something.”
“Mm-hm!” Su Qiong nodded vigorously, took out the pink diamond, and activated its environmental scanning function.
After wandering around the enormous building for a long time, Su Qiong finally found a cold corpse in a corner.
The animal had been dead for some time. Even the Mermaid’s Tear could not revive it immediately.
Furthermore, using the Mermaid’s Tear at a time like this was clearly not worthwhile.
Su Qiong carefully examined the body and discovered that the fatal wound had indeed been inflicted by a player.
More specifically, by a player who had already reclaimed their identity, because the wound had been caused by a system ability.
Previously, Su Qiong had only suspected it.
Now he was eighty percent certain that the player had acted deliberately.
A new question arose.
When the player killed the animal, did he know that the person whose identity it had stolen was Yu Qimiao?
If it had been an indiscriminate attack, that would merely prove the player had a vile personality.
But if it had been intentional…
Su Qiong had to seriously consider who among the surviving players might harbor murderous intent toward Yu Qimiao.
“Su Qiong,” ERROR called.
“Mm?”
“Your item should be able to detect and track an aura, right?” ERROR lightly touched the wound. “Can you find the person responsible?”
“I can, but what would we do after finding him?”
Su Qiong had not yet mastered the concept of revenge.
Besides, even if he chased the player down and killed him, Yu Qimiao would not regain his human identity.
“Nothing in particular. I merely want to understand what happened.” ERROR reached out and closed the corpse’s eyes.
In human society, people believed the dead should rest with their eyes closed.
“You can tell he had already reclaimed his identity, yet he deliberately killed the animal that stole Yu Qimiao’s. Was it merely to vent his anger, a private grudge, or…”
“Or what?”
“Perhaps he triggered some hidden quest.” ERROR stood and said calmly, “I’ve been targeted too many times, so I’m accustomed to assuming the worst.”
“No. Your reasoning makes sense.” Su Qiong stood with him and fell into thought. “If it was a quest, that means the system interfered directly.”
“Mm.”
Su Qiong frowned. “Why would the system interfere to target Yu Qimiao? It should target you.”
ERROR slowly produced three question marks.
In your mind, am I just the universe’s greatest unlucky victim?
“The reason it didn’t target me is obvious.” ERROR gave him a meaningful look. “We’re bound together. The system can’t bear to do it.”
After all, the system’s favoritism toward Su Qiong was obvious to everyone.
If ERROR failed his quest, then Su Qiong, who was bound to him, would fail too. Were they truly supposed to remain as a pair of wild mandarin ducks?
“In that case…” Su Qiong slowly turned toward ERROR and accused him, “So you’re the true culprit.”
ERROR fell silent.
Had he known Su Qiong’s comprehension skills were this outstanding, he would never have wasted so many words.
After comforting him for so long, the blame had somehow landed on ERROR.
After speaking, Su Qiong also realized he was being unreasonable and hurriedly added, “I was only saying it casually.”
“Forget it.” ERROR could not be bothered arguing. “Let’s understand the situation first.”
“All right.”
The tracking power of the pink diamond obtained from the Fairy-Tale Princess was practically unbeatable.
Combined with Su Qiong’s bandage guidance, they easily locked onto the other party’s location.
As they approached, Su Qiong assumed it would be some expert player who had casually killed the animal while completing a quest.
But when he saw the person, he discovered it was a low-ranking member of the Everyone Survives Guild, only slightly above Level Thirty.
Level Thirty would have been enough to dominate the beginner zone.
But in [Into Nature], where experts were gradually breaking into three-digit levels, someone like him could be crushed with a flick of another player’s finger.
And yet this person had caused Yu Qimiao to…
“Stop!” Su Qiong blocked his path with his wand. “I have a few questions. Would it be convenient to talk?”
“No…” The player managed one word before seeing ERROR glance at him and hurriedly changed his answer. “Yes, of course.”
“My name is Su Qiong.” Without waiting for a response, Su Qiong used his bracelet to scan the player’s information card.
The player’s ID was nothing unusual:
Plain Water.
His overall profile was as ordinary as his ID, and none of his abilities appeared special.
“Did you kill someone just now?”
“Y-yes…” The moment Plain Water saw Su Qiong, he knew why they had come and began trembling like a sieve.
Only after killing that person did he learn that it had been an “animal” who had stolen someone else’s identity.
Furthermore, it had been an NPC with a bracelet.
From that bracelet, he learned the ID of the player whose quest had failed:
Yu Qimiao.
The blackhearted guild leader Yu Qimiao was extremely famous throughout the game. Plain Water immediately realized he had caused a disaster and ran.
He had believed he had escaped far enough, yet Su Qiong still caught up with him.
Lowering his head, he muttered remorsefully, “I was wrong. Someone ordered me to do it. I never intended to kill that NPC, much less cause Yu Qimiao’s quest to fail.”
“Who ordered you?” Su Qiong immediately caught the crucial phrase.
“I don’t know.” Plain Water shook his head. “He was much higher-level than me and belonged to our guild. He sent me the message anonymously.”
Anonymity was not an NPC-exclusive privilege. A player who exceeded another’s level by twenty could also choose to hide their identity.
However, privately messaging someone required them to have already added each other as friends through their bracelets.
“How many players have you added?”
“Q-quite a few,” Plain Water answered timidly. “Everyone Survives is one big family. The guild leader told us to add more high-level players, including guild executives, so everyone could help each other during emergencies.”
“Helping one another. How amusing.” ERROR’s smile contained no humor. “You were used as a weapon. Didn’t you notice?”
Only Su Qiong had such a good temper and was willing to communicate with him.
Had it been Shi Yuntian, Plain Water would already have been cut down eight hundred times.
Only after killing the NPC did Plain Water realize what had happened and sink into deep regret.
But regret could not solve anything.
“Show me the message you received.”
“All right.” Plain Water was already terrified and did not dare refuse. He immediately opened the message.
Because Plain Water was the recipient, even though Su Qiong’s level exceeded the sender’s, he could not remove the anonymity. He could only view the contents.
The sender had first provided a location, followed by one short sentence.
[Anonymous ID: For the guild. Eliminate him.]
“For the guild.” Su Qiong memorized those words, released Plain Water’s hand, and even politely thanked him before leaving.
Plain Water’s legs went weak from fear, and he collapsed to his knees.
“I really thought they were going to kill me.”
He watched Su Qiong and ERROR leave. Just as he released a breath of relief, his bracelet received two more anonymous messages.
[Anonymous ID: Did you complete the task the guild assigned you?]
Plain Water replied nervously:
[Plain Water: I followed your instructions and completed it.]
[Anonymous ID: Good. Has anyone come looking for you?]
Plain Water thought of Su Qiong and was about to answer honestly when ERROR’s voice echoed in his mind.
You were used as a weapon. Didn’t you notice?
Plain Water hesitated, then changed his reply.
[Plain Water: No. I already escaped from there.]
[Anonymous ID: You’re clever. If anyone comes looking for you, don’t reveal our conversation. Say it was an accidental killing.]
[Plain Water: Why would anyone come looking for me? Did the NPC I killed have some special identity? Am I in danger?]
Perhaps his questions were too deliberate, or perhaps the other person felt guilty. They did not answer and merely left the words:
[Anonymous ID: I’ll contact you later.]
Plain Water closed the bracelet and became completely certain that the anonymous player—or rather, the Everyone Survives Guild—had used him as a blade.
But Everyone Survives did not have any major conflict with the Orphan Alliance.
Why target Yu Qimiao?
Su Qiong and ERROR could not understand it either.
“If it were Extremity, I could understand,” ERROR said.
That beautiful guild leader of Extremity clearly was not someone easy to deal with.
Killing Yu Qimiao at minimal cost would have been a guaranteed profit for her.
Yu Qimiao’s level was average, but he was the Orphan Alliance’s pillar.
To exaggerate slightly, without Yu Qimiao, the Orphan Alliance would struggle to remain united.
“Xi Huaiji wouldn’t do it,” Su Qiong said. “She made a deal with me.”
“You trust people too easily.” ERROR sighed leisurely, yet still agreed with Su Qiong’s assessment.
Xi Huaiji was calculating and intelligent.
In the short term, Extremity and the Orphan Alliance did have considerable conflict over instance rewards.
But in the long term, their ultimate goal was to clear the game, not slaughter one another. Cooperation would clearly benefit both sides.
Everyone Survives, on the other hand, constantly followed behind the two guilds and benefited from their victories.
Why would they attack Yu Qimiao?
Before Su Qiong could understand the reason, they returned to the player gathering area and faintly heard several people discussing something.
“Have you heard? Extremity’s guild leader killed Yu Qimiao from the Orphan Alliance!”
“Xi Huaiji? That isn’t surprising. She has the face of a beautiful, venomous woman.”
“Before Yu Qimiao appeared, Xi Huaiji was so glorious. Then he recruited the players ranked first and second into his own guild. Wasn’t that a direct slap to her face?”
“Extremity’s guild leader is proud. How could she swallow that humiliation?”
“Do you have any evidence? Why are you saying Xi Huaiji did it?”
“Who else could it be? The Orphan Alliance has so many experts. Ordinary players wouldn’t dare provoke them.”
“Even if it wasn’t Xi Huaiji personally, it had to be an Extremity expert. They hate the Orphan Alliance most for always stealing the first-clear rewards.”
“I see.” After listening for a while, ERROR roughly understood. “Using borrowed strength to strike and sow discord.”
Su Qiong did not understand. “Why are they lying? What benefit does it give them?”
“There is a benefit.” ERROR did not explain in detail. “You don’t need to understand too much about the sinister intentions of humans.”
“But they’ve misunderstood Xi Huaiji. What should we do?” Su Qiong became anxious and had no idea how to explain on Xi Huaiji’s behalf.
He trusted the result of his item’s tracking. It was one hundred percent accurate.
Even if Everyone Survives had not directly ordered what happened to Yu Qimiao, they were undeniably involved.
Extremity, meanwhile, had been dragged into the matter for no reason.
Su Qiong did not want them to be falsely accused.
ERROR smiled.
“What should we do? Naturally, we’ll play along. The more convincing our performance, the better.”
“Huh?” Su Qiong became even more confused.
Help. Had ERROR gone insane?
ERROR truly seemed insane. He proactively contacted the other teammates and told them to cooperate with the rumor, pretending Yu Qimiao had genuinely been harmed by Xi Huaiji.
Shi Yuntian reacted much like Su Qiong and could not understand ERROR’s intentions.
Everyone Survives wanted the two guilds to turn against each other. Wouldn’t cooperating with their performance give them exactly what they wanted?
An’an and Lu Shufan, however, understood almost immediately.
[Lu Shufan: Boss Shi, if you don’t understand, just act along. Everything is for Fishy.]
[Blank ID: Understood.]
[Shi Yuntian: Fine. I’ll pretend Xi Huaiji caused Yu Qimiao’s quest to fail. If something happens because of the act, I’m not taking responsibility.]
[Lu Shufan: It’s fine. Actually, it would be even better if something happens. Go cause trouble at Extremity’s guild base.]
[Shi Yuntian: ?]
Shi Yuntian could not understand how this group of people with brains somehow seemed less sensible than him, the person without one.
Extremity had not acted, yet Shi Yuntian was supposed to cause trouble at their doorstep like a lunatic.
[ERROR: Just do it. The sky won’t collapse.]
ERROR’s plan was not especially complicated.
It was simply somewhat immoral.
Yu Qimiao’s condition was poor, and Lu Shufan needed to remain beside him to prevent him from being eaten by a larger fish.
The Orphan Alliance had suddenly lost two sources of combat power. It would be extremely difficult for them to handle four Circle Lord fragments simultaneously.
At a time like this, they naturally needed help from other players.
However, cooperation inside the game involved too many competing interests. With Yu Qimiao absent, negotiating became far more difficult.
Without his blackhearted Equivalent Exchange Bag, they could not ensure the other parties would sincerely uphold any agreement.
Under such unfavorable circumstances, hearing someone spread false rumors was practically heaven helping the Orphan Alliance.
ERROR estimated that Shi Yuntian’s performance had progressed far enough. After briefly communicating with An’an, they decided to split into two groups.
An’an went to Extremity and pretended to demand an explanation from Xi Huaiji.
Xi Huaiji did not know where the rumor had originated and found herself unable to defend against every accusation. She fell into the trap ERROR and An’an had jointly created, where she was forced to prove her innocence.
An’an asked, “How can you prove your guild didn’t do it?” completely disrupting Xi Huaiji’s rhythm.
Without thinking, she agreed to help rescue Yu Qimiao.
“For the sake of our previous relationship, I’ll help you save Guild Leader Yu. Then you’ll finally believe we’re innocent, won’t you?”
An’an remained expressionless, acting with exceptional realism.
“Who knows whether you’re merely crying thief while being the thief, deliberately selling us a favor?”
“…You’re completely unreasonable.” Xi Huaiji swept back her long hair and said with humiliated anger, “Once Guild Leader Yu recovers, I’ll have a proper discussion with him.”
Meanwhile, ERROR brought Su Qiong to the Everyone Survives Guild, looking entirely detached and carefree.
His words were unpleasant and made it impossible to determine his true intentions.
“I only joined the Orphan Alliance because Yu Qimiao schemed me into it. Now that he’s become a fish, I don’t feel like staying there.”
“I heard what happened to Yu Qimiao was entirely Extremity’s doing. As expected of Xi Huaiji. Her methods are vicious.”
“Although it has nothing to do with me, Yu Qimiao took good care of me before. I can’t simply walk away.”
“Sigh. What should I do?”
Everyone Survives reacted to ERROR as though their ancestor had personally arrived.
Everyone Survives possessed many members, but their levels were low, leaving their overall combat strength far inferior to Extremity’s.
The elimination rate in each instance reached eighty percent, and members of Everyone Survives accounted for eighty percent of those eliminated.
As the instances became increasingly difficult, the guild was close to losing even its numerical advantage. How could its guild leader not be anxious?
At a moment like this, the great ERROR personally came to visit, accompanied by the legendary NPC, while repeatedly hinting that he might switch guilds.
The guild leader of Everyone Survives nearly knelt and begged ERROR to join them.
“I don’t especially care which guild I stay in. It’s just…” ERROR looked toward Su Qiong, sounding troubled. “Wouldn’t it be inappropriate? Yu Qimiao just suffered an accident. If I betray the guild now, everyone will talk about me.”
The guild leader hurriedly said, “How could they? In IF, strength is everything. Players are only trying to survive.”
ERROR secretly tugged Su Qiong and signaled with his eyes, hoping the little marshmallow would understand.
Su Qiong could tell that not even one percent of ERROR’s words were believable.
Even if he truly wanted to leave the Orphan Alliance, he would never join Everyone Survives.
With ERROR’s bizarre personality, how could he tolerate carrying an entire plane full of deadweight?
Furthermore, ERROR was targeted by the system to the extreme. If Everyone Survives acted alongside him, their casualties would probably become even worse.
Still, ERROR was signaling for him to speak.
Su Qiong tried hard to immerse himself in the scene and hesitantly said, “Yes. It doesn’t seem appropriate.”
Such an obedient little marshmallow.
One hint and he understood.
ERROR privately decided that he could not allow Su Qiong to learn bad habits in the future.
This time was an exception.
“What’s inappropriate about it?”
“I’m your exclusive NPC. If you leave, I can only follow you.” As Su Qiong continued speaking, his emotions unexpectedly became genuine. “But Yu Qimiao treated me so well. I can’t stand by and watch him remain trapped in this Circle.”
“But he has already become a fish. What can we do?”
“There is a way!” Su Qiong answered loudly. “If we make the Circle Lord change its will, Yu Qimiao may be able to return.”
“Changing the Circle Lord’s will…” ERROR carefully controlled the pace before continuing, “But Into Nature has four Circle Lord fragments. With only me…”
He changed direction.
“Since it’s your wish, naturally I’ll help you achieve it.”
The guild leader understood and immediately volunteered.
“Our guild may not possess great overall strength, but we have many members. We can help handle one Circle Lord.”
“Wouldn’t that mean I owe you a favor?” ERROR said without sincerity. “How embarrassing.”
“What are you saying? Forget favors. As long as the great ERROR is willing, Everyone Survives will be your home!”
ERROR wore an inscrutable expression.
Easy enough.
He took the opportunity to inform An’an. Extremity would handle one fragment, Everyone Survives another, while ERROR and An’an would cooperate against the third.
As for the sand ball in Su Qiong’s possession, it posed little threat.
If it refused to cooperate, it could become cement within minutes.
After their interference, every surviving player in Circle Three unknowingly began preparing to rescue Yu Qimiao.
Only then did Su Qiong understand why ERROR had chosen to play along with the mistake.
First, they shifted the blame onto Extremity, accurately predicting that Xi Huaiji would never tolerate the accusation and would insist on finding Yu Qimiao to confront him.
Then they exploited Everyone Survives’ mentality of developing quietly while secretly hoping the large guilds would destroy each other. By pretending to split from his original guild, ERROR ensured that Everyone Survives would desperately pay the “termination fee” for him.
If the truth was later exposed, ERROR would remain completely calm.
Xi Huaiji could argue with Yu Qimiao, since everything had been done to save him.
With Yu Qimiao’s debating ability, he would never suffer a loss.
As for Everyone Survives…
Su Qiong had preserved all the evidence from Plain Water’s instructions, ready to settle accounts with them afterward.
The various players finished creating their battle plans and began resting, fully preparing for the following day’s operation.
Su Qiong went alone to the freshwater lake and watched Yu Qimiao swimming through the water, feeling somewhat lonely.
Yu Qimiao had truly become a fish.
Su Qiong did not know whether he could still think.
He swam back and forth but always remained within Su Qiong’s line of sight.
“Yu Qimiao.” Su Qiong called him and lightly touched the surface of the water with one finger.
Yu Qimiao emerged, as though responding to his call.
“They’ve already decided on a strategy, but I’m not confident. I don’t know whether my theory is correct.”
“If we defeat all four Circle Lords, will you truly return to normal?”
“The system said defeating the Circle Lord is one method of clearing the Circle, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will change the Circle Lord’s will.”
“If the Circle boundary opens and you still can’t recover your human identity, what will we do?”
Yu Qimiao circled Su Qiong’s finger twice, carefree, seemingly failing to understand a single word.
Su Qiong could only stare at him helplessly.
Perhaps the moment the bracelet disappeared had marked their eternal farewell.
Su Qiong remembered Gangan Village, when Yu Qimiao had noticed that his bandages were dirty.
Before they separated, Su Qiong had assumed they would never meet again.
Even though Yu Qimiao believed Su Qiong would no longer guide him, he still spent all his points to exchange for a cloak.
Later, when Su Qiong left the instance with An’an and saw Yu Qimiao again, he had felt terribly guilty.
He thought Yu Qimiao would become angry because Su Qiong had damaged the cloak. After all, it represented everything he owned.
Instead, Yu Qimiao merely said that one was not good enough and promised to exchange it for something better.
“Do you truly have to remain here forever?” Seeing that Yu Qimiao gave him no response, Su Qiong felt deeply aggrieved. “I don’t want to lose you.”
As he spoke, a crystal-clear tear fell directly onto Yu Qimiao.
The fish that had been drifting aimlessly suddenly stopped.
Through the water’s surface, it lightly kissed Su Qiong’s fingertip.
He seemed to say something, yet perhaps said nothing at all.
But that no longer mattered.
Su Qiong knew that even after becoming a fish, Yu Qimiao still recognized him.
Hope ignited in his heart once more.
“What am I worried about?” Su Qiong whispered. “If defeating the Circle Lord doesn’t work, I’ll destroy this Circle.”
“If destroying the Circle doesn’t work, I’ll overturn the system.”
The system: “???”
What the hell does this have to do with me?!
Hearing Su Qiong muttering, the sand ball hidden inside the wand could no longer remain silent and forcefully demanded to be released.
“You’re a white-name NPC! Why are you so violent?” The sand ball panicked. “We worked so hard to support this Circle, and you want to destroy it just for one fish!”
Su Qiong looked serious.
“He isn’t an ordinary fish.”
“I don’t care what kind of fish he is! This is still my Circle!”
“Then change the rules and return Yu Qimiao.”
“…”
Upon hearing the order, the sand ball instantly lost its nerve.
“You know I’m only a fragment. I can’t control the entire Circle.”
A shadow covered Su Qiong’s beautiful eyes.
“But! But!” The sand ball hurriedly changed direction. “I know how to alter the rules.”
“Really? Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
The sand ball was speechless.
I didn’t know your thoughts were so dangerous.
“A Circle Lord can’t simply change the rules whenever it wishes. Otherwise, where would our dignity go?” The sand ball remained stubborn and argued forcefully, “Furthermore, persuading a Circle Lord to reverse a decision always demands a price.”
“Tell me quickly!” Su Qiong became anxious. “Otherwise, I’ll use you to build a cesspit.”
The sand ball trembled.
This white-name NPC was more terrifying than every player it had encountered combined.
“I’ll talk! I’ll talk.” The sand ball surrendered and reported everything it knew. “You already know that Into Nature’s Circle Lord is highly fragmented and that none of our wills communicate. If you want to change a rule created by the Circle Lord, all four of us must reach a consensus. Only then can Yu Qimiao be saved.”
“How do I make you reach a consensus?”
“I don’t know about the other three, but I’m completely willing to cooperate. You only need to make the other three submit to me… I was joking.” The sand ball had intended to seize the opportunity to unify the entire Circle, but when it met Su Qiong’s all-seeing gaze, it immediately suppressed its ambition. “You only need to tame them the way you tamed me and make them willingly change their wills.”
“Willingly.” Su Qiong said, “That’s easy.”
“Are you sure it’s easy? Their tempers are much worse than mine! Not everyone is as sensible as I am.” The little sand ball criticized its companions while praising itself.
Su Qiong ignored its self-praise and slowly said, “It’s easy.”
“If one beating doesn’t make them willing, I’ll beat them again.”
“!!!” The sand ball immediately declared, “Lord Su Qiong, I am absolutely willing to cooperate with you!”
It absolutely refused to be used to fill a cesspit.
As night deepened, Moi and Qiyi lay embracing each other, unable to sleep because they were too worried about Yu Qimiao.
They were afraid of waking their companions and planned to quietly get up and move somewhere farther away.
But the moment they shifted, Lu Shufan asked, “You two aren’t sleeping either?”
“What are you doing?!” Shi Yuntian abruptly sat upright. “Pretending to be asleep was exhausting!”
“Huh?” Moi realized everyone was awake and nervously looked toward An’an and ERROR.
The two experts were sitting on the ground, silently writing complicated text and formulas.
“What are you calculating?” Lu Shufan asked curiously. “The probability of success for your first joint battle?”
“No,” An’an answered. “We’re considering the original method for clearing [Into Nature].”
Shi Yuntian said, “Whatever. Defeating the Circle Lord will definitely let us clear it.”
“Even though the Circle Lord is divided into four fragments, our chances of defeating all of them remain extremely low.”
“Boss Shi, clearing it that way won’t earn the reward. We’ll receive rewards only if we clear it through the correct method.”
Shi Yuntian did not care about rewards, but after thinking of his companions, he reluctantly used his brain.
“Then what do you think the correct method is?”
“ERROR and Su Qiong already tested it. It definitely isn’t destroying humanity.”
“Could it be creating a new homeland? But the Circle Lord already created one.”
“Surely it doesn’t expect humans and animals to completely exchange places?”
“Now that you mention it, that’s actually possible.”
“Speaking of the correct method, where is Su Qiong? Doesn’t he always trigger all kinds of strange clues?”
Lu Shufan casually answered, “Little Pastry went to find his mommy.”
He did not mention the name, yet Shi Yuntian immediately understood.
He even had a wicked thought:
If Yu Qimiao remained in Circle Three, Su Qiong would finally qualify to join the Orphan Alliance.
“With the guild leader gone, even our meetings accomplish nothing.”
“That’s why we must find a way to rescue him.”
Although everyone shared the same goal, they still had no concrete method.
An’an and ERROR exchanged glances, both thinking the other was useless.
“Forget it. We’ll fight first tomorrow and think afterward.”
“That works.”
They returned to their sleeping places and were about to lie down when hurried footsteps sounded.
Su Qiong ran back while holding the sand ball.
“I found a new method! It can definitely save Yu Qimiao!”
Everyone rose from their coffins simultaneously and looked toward him.
“Tell us!”
“I suddenly remembered that according to the rules of IF…” Su Qiong made a dangerous declaration. “A Circle Lord can be replaced.”
“Replace the Circle Lord?”
“Is that possible?”
“It is.” In the darkness, Su Qiong told them solemnly, “As long as I display enough strength to completely overpower the current Circle Lord, I can replace it and gain control over this world.”
Once Su Qiong became the Circle Lord, the Circle would change according to his will.
That included Yu Qimiao, who had become a fish.
“If the Circle Lord fragments can’t reach a consensus, then I’ll do it myself.”
