Chapter 140
One person could be coincidence, but siblings both assigned the same god? That couldn’t be coincidence.
Cynthia and Lilus thought it over, then used a trip as an excuse to visit Messiah. Since he had become a Master-Rank player slightly earlier than Lilus (at this point, Lu Chuan still hadn’t emerged from his dungeon), it made sense to check with him.
When Messiah heard their inquiry and learned they were both Master-Rank players now, he explained his task without hesitation.
The system didn’t forbid party members from discussing these matters. Even if it did deduct game points, as long as they kept it within the group, they could afford the loss.
“As expected, all three of our hunting tasks are the same,” Cynthia said after a moment of silence. “I need to ask Shen Li as well.”
Messiah sensed something was off too, so he joined Cynthia and Lilus in seeking out Shen Li.
Shen Li was astonished.
“What? You guys also have the same hunting task? I thought since I was a filler-rank player, the system gave me an easier assignment.” He’d assumed that since the god was still reviving and hadn’t even been named, it would be easy prey. But when he learned Cynthia and the others had all been assigned the same target, his head instantly started to ache.
“Then how’s this god supposed to be divided? If we team up to hunt it, will it count for each of us individually?” Shen Li asked.
“We’ll have to wait until Lu Chuan comes out to know for sure.”
“True.” Shen Li nodded. “Once he’s out, everything will be clear.”
…
When Lu Chuan saw all his teammates gathered around, he was momentarily dumbfounded. How had things turned into this?
“…That’s the situation,” Shen Li cleared his throat and said earnestly. “I waited until after celebrating with you to bring it up—didn’t want to spoil your mood.”
Lu Chuan rubbed his forehead.
How could he possibly be in a good mood?
When Lu Chuan heard Shen Li, Cynthia, Lilus, and Messiah all say that their target to hunt was an unnamed god, probably tied to money and wealth, who was in the process of reviving—he broke out in goosebumps.
He almost thought his teammates were about to gang up on him.
#888 had already been freaking out inside his head for a while.
[Damn, damn, damn, the main god system is doing this on purpose.]
[Host, let’s just quit. Worst case, we switch to another parallel world and start over.]
[It has this world almost completely under control—it wouldn’t be willing to abandon everything just to chase us across dimensions.]
[Host, I’m sorry. It’s my fault for leveling up too slowly, that’s why we got noticed.]
[Don’t tell me all my previous hosts died for this exact reason…] #888 even simulated crying noises from its database.
Lu Chuan’s head was pounding from the noise.
“Calm down, system. Being targeted was inevitable. Even the righteous [God of Desire] ended up like that. The main god system’s power is above ours—it was only a matter of time before we got noticed. There’s nothing to fear. And as for your past hosts—they were just too weak. They died before they even made it onto the newcomer rankings. Not worth the system’s time to bother with.” Lu Chuan forcibly steadied #888’s emotions.
What kind of world was this, where the host had to comfort his system?
[I was just worried you’d give up, Host,] #888 said gloomily. [You’ve leveled up so much you’re already starting to become godlike. I’m terrified the main god system will erase you. If you’re gone, I’ll seal away all my memories with you, so I won’t have to remember and be sad, boo-hoo…]
Lu Chuan sighed inwardly. “Alright, alright, don’t be sad. I won’t die.”
“My hunting mission is different from yours. My target is the [God of Exchange]. You may not have heard much about Him, but the Extreme Evil Loan Company serves under Him,” Lu Chuan explained. “Sorry, my mission isn’t the same as yours.”
That statement caught Cynthia and the others off guard.
If Lu Chuan’s mission had matched theirs, that would have meant they’d all offended the same god and were being punished together. Sticking together would have helped them figure out why they’d been targeted. But now, with Lu Chuan’s mission being different, their earlier theory collapsed.
The situation had only gotten messier.
The four of them set Lu Chuan aside and discussed among themselves.
“So, it’s just the four of us who have the same mission?”
“Unless there are multiple unnamed gods reviving at once, it must be the same one.”
“That’s strange. Usually, the god we’re tasked to hunt has a personal tie to us. What do the four of us have in common?”
“If we had to say… we’re in the same team. Maybe we all encountered a god together?”
“But that can’t be right. Otherwise, Lu Chuan’s mission would match ours too. So the problem still lies with Lu Chuan.”
Round and round they went, and in the end, the topic landed back on Lu Chuan.
Shen Li, Cynthia, Lilus, and Messiah all turned their eyes on him.
Starry Shasha and Edith, not yet on the Top Player Rankings, stayed out of it. Knowing too much this early wouldn’t do them any good anyway.
“Maybe it’s because I’m going to become a god?” Lu Chuan said lightly. “The god you’re meant to hunt… is me.”
Silence.
Lilus clapped him on the shoulder with a sigh. “Lu Chuan, I know it’s frustrating that your mission doesn’t match ours, but don’t take it out like that. Humans can’t become gods. And if some god’s avatar looked like you, my illusions about divinity would be shattered.”
“If our future Guildmaster of Star Guild turned out to be a god, we’d unify the whole world. Not a bad thought, really,” Shen Li teased.
“If you’re a god, can you turn us into gods too?” Messiah added wickedly. “Surely you can manage at least that?”
“We may never become gods, but through effort we can gain powers on par with Them,” Cynthia said gently, trying to steer him away.
A good person shouldn’t let himself get delusional about becoming divine.
It sounded immature, unreliable—not something a master-ranked player should be saying.
Beating gods and being granted godlike power by the system? That was possible. Gaining extended life too.
But truly becoming a god? No.
Funny, Lu Chuan thought. When he lied, they believed it without question. But when he told the truth, they refused to believe.
“Honestly, I think the reason your mission is different is because the system decided you couldn’t kill this god,” Lilus suddenly said, smugly. “If it was some other god, fine. But ours is money-related. That’s your fatal weakness. If you met this god, you’d probably faint from being showered in gold before the fight even started—and might even turn against us. The system must’ve seen through your miserly, money-grubbing personality and excluded you on purpose.”
Lilus couldn’t be happier. If Lu Chuan’s mission was different, it also didn’t match her sister’s. That meant she no longer had to worry about him stealing her away.
And being excluded like that would surely hurt Lu Chuan, make him long to rejoin their group. The thought filled Lilus with glee.
“…When you put it that way, it does sound pretty plausible.” To everyone’s surprise, Messiah was the first to agree. “I hadn’t thought of that, but Lilus has a point.”
“It’s not just plausible—it’s basically certain!” Shen Li slapped his thigh. He knew Lu Chuan’s personality too well; the reasoning was flawless.
“Indeed,” Cynthia nodded.
They accepted the explanation instantly, convinced it was more credible than Lu Chuan actually being a god.
Lu Chuan’s expression soured.
Honestly, I find the reasoning pretty convincing too, #888 thought privately. Could Lilus actually be a genius?
But fearing Lu Chuan’s anger, it kept its opinion to itself.
“…Let’s drop this.” Lu Chuan shook his head and changed the subject. “You’re all Top Ranked Players now. From here on, our missions will all be tied to top-tier dungeons, twice as dangerous. Shasha and Edith still need more time to catch up.”
“Their abilities are useful, but not offense-focused. Slower leveling is normal,” Shen Li said. “Let them take their time. And even if we’re doing dungeons, the system probably won’t group us together. More likely, it’ll scatter us—like with Xi Jiangyuan’s dungeon.”
With four top players in one squad, the system would take their strength into account. It would never allow them to rampage unchecked. It would impose restrictions to keep them from tearing dungeons apart.
“True,” Lu Chuan agreed. “So we’ll enter dungeons solo?”
“No need. Just enter normally,” Cynthia answered. “How we’re distributed is the system’s job. And if the four of us share the same hunting mission, the longer we stay together, the more likely that unknown god will come to us. Gods can sense when they’ve been targeted, but the system will shield us enough that they won’t know who exactly we are.”
Gods had a strong instinct for threats to themselves.
Top Ranked Players were powerful enough to hurt Them, so They’d sense being hunted. The system blurred this sense—enough that gods would be wary, but not instantly recognize them on sight.
“System, do you think the main god system will also block the [God of Exchange] from sensing me?” Lu Chuan asked, not very hopeful.
If he were the main system, he’d never give himself that advantage.
[You don’t need to worry, Host. Even if the main god system doesn’t protect you, I can,] #888 quickly reassured him. [I may level slowly, but my defenses are strong. For us systems that nurture gods, the greatest fear is being noticed. Since you’re bound to me, you’re under my protection. Gods can’t detect you.]
That was exactly why #888 had assumed it hadn’t been discovered by the main system.
But it had been, after all.
Still, that was only because the main system was a system too. Gods and systems weren’t even the same kind of beings—no way they could detect him.
#888 was confident about that.
“That’s good. I’m relieved then.” Lu Chuan nodded. He couldn’t afford to be found by the [God of Exchange] just yet. He still planned to stir up trouble in the Extreme Evil Loan Company.
In the end, everyone settled on the following plan:
If they were going to enter a Master-Rank Player dungeon, the five of them would team up; Starry Shasha and Edith wouldn’t need to go in.
For other dungeons, they’d just form parties freely.
Also, if they really entered a dungeon as a team but got sent to different areas, they’d regroup if possible; if not, each could just stir things up on their own—trusting their teammates could handle it. If someone really couldn’t hold on, they should just admit defeat. As Master-Rank players, the worst that could happen was a drop in ranking—winning or losing didn’t matter that much anymore.
After finalizing the plan and ironing out the details, everyone was satisfied.
Next came the inevitable gossip: they wanted to know how Lu Chuan had faced off with Starry Ming in the divine-challenge dungeon.
They were dying to learn how Lu Chuan had managed to clear the dungeon smoothly under Starry Ming’s watch.
Lu Chuan explained everything, step by step—including how he used the “Extreme Evil Loan Company” and how he’d guessed Chen Ji’s true identity.
Once he’d seen his teammates off, Lu Chuan finally let out a breath.
“Little System, since Cang Jiu was able to contact me before, can I reach out to him?”
Lu Chuan felt tired. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to tell his teammates who he really was, but revealing it now would only lead to two outcomes:
They’d be forced by the Main God System to kill him, leading to mutual destruction—something Lu Chuan absolutely didn’t want.
They’d resist the Main God System—but as brand-new Master-Rank players, their foundation wasn’t stable. Rebelling now would only make the system target them.
Either way, Lu Chuan didn’t want that to happen.
Besides, a faint uneasiness tugged at him: he didn’t trust human nature.
People had too much to consider. If it were just Shen Li and Cynthia, Lu Chuan believed there was a 90% chance they’d stand with him. But behind those four stood more than just themselves—there was an entire guild.
If they learned Lu Chuan was a candidate for godhood, even if the four didn’t want to be his enemies, what about their guilds? If they could gain the secrets of the gods or even kill one, would they really resist the temptation?
And Shen Li, Cynthia and her brother, Messiah—they were all natives of this world, raised under the care of guilds. Apart from him, they had family, friends, benefactors, teachers. Could he really ask them to give up everything for him alone?
Lu Chuan knew he couldn’t—and didn’t want them forced into that choice.
At the end of the day, this was just a battle between himself and the Main God System.
One reason Lu Chuan wanted to become guildmaster of the Star Guild was precisely this: if he could control the whole guild, then even if something happened, at least he’d have power to protect himself, rather than standing alone against the world.
[In theory, yes.] #888 answered after a moment’s thought.
[Cang Jiu is the God of Desire. That explains why the mark he left on you back then was so strong. Contracts between gods are sacred and nearly unchangeable. He probably intended to ally with you from the start.]
#888 silently cursed itself for not realizing Cang Jiu’s ambitious schemes sooner.
“Then I need to try reaching out to him. Fighting alone is just too hard.”
Lu Chuan rubbed his temples. “I didn’t expect the Main God System to be this shameless—using me to replace a god while also wanting my teammates to kill me.”
When you compared his teammates’ hunting missions to his own, the malice became obvious.
If Lu Chuan chose to hunt the God of Desire, he’d end up facing Cang Jiu—likely a mutually destructive outcome, letting the Main God System harvest both gods without lifting a finger.
If he chose the God of Exchange, then once he succeeded, he’d immediately become the “God of Wealth.” The moment his divine name was set, his teammates would get a system notice and come after him.
As soon as Lu Chuan hesitated, the Main God System would have him in its grip.
Either way, the system couldn’t lose.
Thinking of this, Lu Chuan glanced at #888, sighing inwardly that the gap between systems was even wider than that between people and dogs.
#888 suspected its host had just insulted it silently, but it had no proof.
[I can try, Host. Since there’s already a contract connection between you two, I can follow the power of Cang Jiu’s mark to contact him.]
“Then let’s do it,” Lu Chuan confirmed.
At that moment, Cang Jiu and Number 18 were investigating a comrade’s mutation.
“Senior, it’s Number 78,” Number 18 said lazily, nudging the corpse as massive as a mountain.
“He hadn’t reached the level of true immortality. He was probably in the middle of reviving when a bunch of gods surrounded and attacked him. His revival speed couldn’t keep up with being killed, so when his merit points ran out, he lost his sanity and was finally slain.”
“So now, every Executor after Number 78 can rise one rank.” Number 18 seemed entirely unconcerned.
Executors often slaughtered and devoured gods; naturally, the gods hunted them in return. That was simply their relationship.
“Who was Number 78’s partner?”
“Number 51,” Number 18 licked his lips. “I remember Number 51 tasted amazing. He used to be a Guildmaster, climbed from rank 200 to 51 in under a hundred years. I once got a bite of him, but he escaped.”
Back then, 18 hadn’t yet become Number 18 but was ranked much lower.
“Since Number 78 died here, Number 51 probably escaped, but the Main God wants us to find Number 51.” Cang Jiu calmly surveyed the area. “The divine energy here is chaotic—likely over a hundred gods came. They almost never gather like this, so those two probably did something on their own to level up.”
Number 18 nodded distractedly, drooling as he stared at Number 78’s body.
“Senior, can I eat him first? I’m starving.” Hunger was now the only thing in Number 18’s mind.
Cang Jiu frowned slightly.
As Executors, seeing a colleague naturally triggered hunger and a thirst for blood—a design meant to prevent them from ever uniting, forcing them to remain under the Main God System’s control.
But desire happened to be Cang Jiu’s innate domain. He could suppress it with willpower; Number 18 couldn’t.
“No eating.” Cang Jiu grabbed Number 18 with one hand, then drew his sword and sliced the mountain-like corpse of Number 78 into countless fragments.
The instant Number 78’s body turned to powder, a massive force erupted from within.
“Senior!”
Number 18 instantly returned to his true form, shielding them from the explosion.
System messages followed at once:
[Detected severe damage to dungeon ecology. Dungeon forcibly closed.]
[Executors, please dispose of this instance.]
…
Number 18 reeled, half his original body blown away, while the dungeon world around them collapsed into nothing—emergency-closed by the system.
Number 78’s body had been rigged with a divine trap. The gods knew Executors would examine fallen comrades, so they’d hidden their strike inside, hoping to take down another Executor if someone couldn’t resist eating the corpse.
But Cang Jiu not only resisted; he also pulled Number 18 to safety.
“What a waste… all shattered.” Number 18 was upset: the body was gone, half his own body too, and repairs would be a pain.
Just as Cang Jiu was about to speak, the ingot on his sword hilt rang out.
A moment later, Lu Chuan’s voice echoed in Cang Jiu’s mind: “Hello? Can you hear me?”
Author’s Note:
Lilus: “With how greedy you are, one meeting with that unknown god and you’ll be dead.”
Lu Chuan: “…No comment.”
Cang Jiu: “I think Lilus has a point.”
