Chapter 183
[Host, we’ve already stayed here for five days,] #888 said calmly. [We should leave.]
“No rush. They haven’t come looking for me yet—why should I leave?” Lu Chuan yawned, picking up a novel. “Even if I went out, they’d probably drag me back in again. I might as well stay here. If I can leap across timelines again, maybe I can screw them over one more time.”
888 was doubtful, but its remaining functions were too limited to be as sharp as before.
Without a sidekick to banter with, Lu Chuan sighed and had to talk to himself:
“Even though we took the Seed of Desire, you still can’t connect with the main program. That means the anomaly of this cave still exists. If I can find enough external force, I could break the barrier here and send myself onto another timeline. I can’t stay stuck on just one—it would drag me down to death.”
[Why?] #888 asked curiously.
“Think about why we jumped timelines in the first place.” Lu Chuan set down his book, his tone serious. “The first dungeon was just a trial, ending with me alone against four gods—and dying. Since it was a trial, my divine seed didn’t take my place in death.
The second main dungeon started with the collapse of world order, gods invading, and humanity’s mass extinction. That’s when I met Wen Renxu—and that’s when I jumped timelines.
The last time was because Wen Renxu and Number 6 waged war, letting me cross again.
See? To jump timelines, either the world must suffer a cataclysm strong enough to disrupt its ecosystem—or I myself must die once.”
He spread his hands. “Follow that logic and you’ll see why no ordinary human could ever clear this dungeon. Players usually only get one life. If they die once, they’re gone. And crossing timelines? Forget it.
This timeline is both the safest—and the most dangerous.”
“I may be a candidate for God of Wealth, but I’m still human. And humans have lifespans. This era—called the Last Peaceful Age—can last decades, maybe even centuries. What am I supposed to do? Sit here until I’m an old man with a failing body, then try challenging the next timeline? By then, I’d be one step from the grave.” He chuckled. “If it comes to that, I won’t even need to challenge anything. I’ll already be dead.”
Every veteran of the infinite dungeons knew: the safer a dungeon looked, the more deadly it really was.
Imagine—if a player entered such a peaceful dungeon, never found a boss, never found an exit, and had no choice but to live here as a native. By the time his task list finally budged, he’d already be in his twilight years, too weak to fight or run. Wasn’t that horrifying?
Clearly, Starry Ming had entered earlier than him. Yet he had never once run into Xing.
He had met Wen Renxu, and he had met Number 6.
He had even run into the Four Evil Gods. But of Starry Ming, not a trace.
From his one interaction, Lu Chuan knew Starry Ming was overly cautious. With his team beside him, he would never rush. He’d move slowly, step by step. That meant he was still stuck in the trial dungeon, unable to emerge—unable to meet Wen Renxu, unable to meet Lu Chuan.
And when he compared notes with Wen Renxu, he realized: though they had each crossed timelines, not once had they ever gone back to the same one.
Which meant: each timeline offered only one chance.
Two people could not exist in the same time.
So there was no way Lu Chuan was going to just sit here.
He still wanted to leave this dungeon—return home.
But since he couldn’t exactly kill himself, he needed external force to break the barrier of time and send him onto another timeline.
So Lu Chuan stayed here, actually waiting for the Father of Nature.
“That stinking rat must already be suspicious, seeing that I haven’t returned for so long. With no usable people left, it’s highly likely he’ll come check personally,” Lu Chuan rested his chin on one hand. “If even someone as powerful as me enters and doesn’t return, finding another investigator would be pointless. He has no other choice but to come himself. With the tools and powers I have now, if I really fight him, it’ll take a lot of effort before I can cross through time again.”
[Host, your prediction was indeed correct.] #888 flickered. [He’s here. But… Number 6 also came with him.]
Somehow the two had ended up together, and their combined presence was so overwhelming that even from far away, #888 could feel it.
Lu Chuan: “…”
“Sometimes I think his divine name shouldn’t be ‘Father of Nature’ but ‘Son of Fortune.’ How is his luck this good, that he just happens to run into Number 6? Doesn’t make sense. With Number 6’s ‘slay god, slay buddha’ attitude, he should’ve killed him outright. How come they’re working together?” Lu Chuan paused, then pointed at himself. “Unless… it’s because of me.”
“Ah, I really am a sinful man.” Lu Chuan sighed. Glancing at all the golden furniture in his cave, he swept them up in one go, preparing himself to burn through them all today.
If he faced either one of them alone, Lu Chuan was confident he could escape.
But against the two together, all he could do was pray that the temporal shift came sooner, so he could flee earlier.
Number 6 and the Father of Nature drew closer to the cave.
As they walked, the Father of Nature noticed Number 6’s pace getting faster, almost breaking into a run.
“Wait. This place is treacherous. If we get separated, we won’t be able to contact each other again.” The Father of Nature’s mortal vessel couldn’t keep up with such speed.
But Number 6 seemed drawn by something, his eyes fixed on the cave ahead.
“This place… I think I’ve been here before.” Staring at the cave, flashes of memory flickered in his mind.
He remembered once being surrounded by many gods, each powerful.
Then one day, they faced an unbelievably strong enemy.
That enemy knew every one of their divine powers and weaknesses, and could use supreme rules to bind them all.
The gods unwilling to submit were swiftly killed. Some, however, managed to pass their godseed fragments onward.
And him?
Number 6 clutched his head.
He seemed to recall dying—yet at the call of another voice, he had awakened. When he woke, only endless hunger remained.
“This is the place you spoke of?” Number 6’s eyes turned icy cold.
“Yes, here.” The Father of Nature shifted slightly, sensing the divine aura around Number 6 intensify. Though himself a high god, he still felt oppressed, almost suffocated.
This man was definitely not a god born of their world. Which meant—beyond this world, there truly existed another realm, with even stronger gods.
“You’re so slow.” Lu Chuan swaggered out of the cave, glaring impatiently at the two. “If you’d taken any longer, I’d have eaten through all my rations. Enough talk—let’s not waste time. Let’s fight.”
He drew his pistol, smiling faintly. “This time, let’s see if it’s you who dies, or me who survives.”
Outside the Instance
“Whew—” Shen Li wiped his brow, having painstakingly laid the foundation for Lu Chuan’s golden skyscraper with newly refined gold.
Strangely, ever since the last time gold mysteriously vanished, he had installed over a dozen security cameras, trying to catch the thief. But after that, no gold had gone missing—until now. Shen Li had relaxed somewhat, thinking the problem solved.
If the gold kept disappearing, the skyscraper would never finish on time.
And Lu Chuan—who knew where he had gone “vacationing” in some instance—still hadn’t returned.
Shen Li pulled out a bottle of water. Just as he was about to drink, he noticed the fresh gold disappearing before his very eyes.
Seriously—who kept stealing his gold?!
Meanwhile, inside the instance, Lu Chuan was already covered in wounds, fighting two at once.
The Father of Nature struck insidiously, always waiting until after Number 6 attacked to make his move. Though Lu Chuan had shot him several times, the effect was limited—nowhere near enough to kill him.
The fluctuations around the cave grew more violent.
Lu Chuan knew: if the power surged just a little more, he could use the external force to slip into another timeline.
“Number 6, what’s wrong? Didn’t you eat? As the Executor, your strength should be more than this.” Lu Chuan panted.
Compared to when he fought Wen Renxu, Number 6’s blows were noticeably lighter. Had he suddenly decided not to kill Lu Chuan?
“What did you find in this cave? Hand it over, and I’ll ensure you leave this instance alive.” Number 6 had sensed something here—but now it was gone. Only Lu Chuan could have taken it. If he retrieved it, maybe more memories would return.
“Ensure I leave?” Lu Chuan chuckled lazily, as if hearing a joke. “My dear Executor, you still don’t understand where you are. This instance is nearly impossible to leave. You haven’t figured out its true nature, have you?”
Number 6 frowned. He disliked the confident smirk on Lu Chuan’s face.
“If you die here, even knowing how to leave won’t matter.” Number 6 replied seriously. “You’re already a master-ranked player—don’t throw your life away foolishly.”
“Well, if you could gift me an entire world of gold, maybe I’d consider giving it to you.” Lu Chuan grinned. “But… do you even have money?”
Money? What was that?
“As expected, you Executors don’t care for money. That’s why we’ll never see eye to eye.” Lu Chuan sighed dramatically. “You don’t have what I want, so how could we trade? If you really had the ability to kill me, maybe you could loot what you want from my corpse. Oh, but you’d better watch out—don’t let that god behind you snatch it. He’s tricked me plenty of times already, definitely not a good sort.”
As he spoke, Lu Chuan downed a vial of calming potion, rapidly restoring his sanity points—just in case he couldn’t afford the cost of firing his gun later.
He had already shifted timelines; he wasn’t sure if that counted as a new instance. Could he still use the Seed of Exchange?
Though outwardly calm, inside Lu Chuan was panicking. If he failed here, he’d be so furious he’d resurrect himself in his coffin.
“Don’t listen to his lies. Humans love to deceive.” The Father of Nature interjected quickly. “He’s fooled many gods already—even stole my godseed. He cannot be trusted.”
“Oh, that seed? I locked it away somewhere. Compared to the Seed of Exchange or the Seed of Desire, it’s really nothing.” Lu Chuan shrugged.
“You—!” The Father of Nature glared venomously, then turned to Number 6. “Let’s kill him together. Whatever you seek, we’ll find it.”
But in the very next moment, Number 6’s strike—aimed at Lu Chuan—suddenly turned, slamming into the Father of Nature.
The god had never imagined Number 6 would turn on him without warning. “You—!”
His mortal vessel couldn’t withstand the close-range blow. As he tried to flee, Number 6 drained him heavily, leaving him so weakened he might need centuries to recover.
“Wow.” Lu Chuan whistled. “Truly unpredictable—an Executor really will even butcher his own partner out of nowhere.”
“The fluctuations are growing stronger,” Number 6 suddenly looked up at the sky above the cave. “You want to leave here—go to another timeline?”
The smile froze on Lu Chuan’s face.
Just earlier, he had mocked Number 6 for not understanding the mechanics of the instance. Yet now, Number 6 had spoken of it so directly.
“I think I just remembered something,” Number 6 tilted his head slightly. “Back then… did the God of Desire survive?”
Elsewhere, Starry Ming and his group dug up a safe beneath the tallest point of Star City.
But when they unearthed it, they found not one safe—but two.
“Huh? Wasn’t there supposed to be only one?”
Everyone was stunned, unsure which was real. Worse still—they didn’t know the password for either.
“That’s the real headache.”
“Anyone carrying gold ingots?” Starry Ming suddenly asked.
His men glanced at each other, finally pooling together a sack of ingots.
Starry Ming dumped them onto the ground.
At once, the ingots rose into the air of their own accord. One of the safes, previously ordinary-looking, shone with dazzling golden light and opened a slit, sucking all the ingots inside.
Once the gold ingots were completely absorbed, the combination box closed its lid again, as if its opening a moment ago had been nothing but an illusion.
It was far too recognizable.
Even though Lu Chuan’s name wasn’t written on it, one glance was enough to tell which box belonged to him.
“That’s right, this is the combination box Lu Chuan left behind,” Starry Ming declared firmly. “Then the other one must be the guildmaster’s. I’ll take Lu Chuan’s box with me and study it carefully. As for the guildmaster’s, you must protect it well, understand?”
“Understood.”
