Chapter 364: Puppeteer

April 29th, 12:00 PM, Ruins of the Sunset.

A blonde-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian youth appeared beneath the World Tree. Ignoring everyone else, he pushed through the crowd gathered in front of Babel and walked toward the European-style architectural complex on the edge of the plaza.

Along the way, fragments of discussion poured into his ears, being unconsciously collected and faithfully transmitted by him.

“Of the names on the Revelation Fragment, Jiuzhou and Tingfeng have only claimed five in total, even including the former Ark Guild. They said they prepared so much just in case, but in the end, they only took up these few slots. Who knows where all their planning went?”

“I did a rough count. Excluding the existence suspected to be a god and Charlie, who’s confirmed to be an NPC, there are only thirteen slots in total. Five is already a lot, okay?”

“Heh, five out of thirteen. They don’t even have a majority in voting. Instead, the universally hated Sera and Balance Guild have a significant advantage. I’ve said it before—the ‘Massacre Style’ is the mode encouraged by the Eerie Game.”

“Don’t say that. Doesn’t the Unnamed Guild still hold three slots? Besides, I heard that each Identity Card holder can bring several teammates into the instance. Since Fu Jue has an Identity Card, it means that Yu Jinsheng, Shuomeng, and that whole group are qualified to participate in the Final Dungeon.”

“Yeah, in the end, it still comes down to overall strength. Just look at the Revelation Fragment and leave it at that. No matter how many Identity Cards Sera and Balance Guild have, they won’t be able to gather enough top-ranked players to form a full team.”

“Revelation Fragment” was the name players gave to the newly appeared stone tablet engraved with twenty-two Identity Cards. When faced with difficult problems, humans always unconsciously do many useless things to pretend they are making progress, and naming things happens to be a simple task that anyone can do.

Combining creation myths from various religions and reflecting on the nature of the Final Dungeon in the Eerie Game, the word “Revelation,” which carries both apocalyptic and hopeful connotations, was chosen as the name for the stone tablet.

Furthermore, since many of the correspondences between the Identity Cards on the stone tablet and the players were vacant, “Fragment” naturally became part of the consensus as a fairly appropriate title.

The Caucasian youth had no intention of joining the discussion. He walked straight through the crowded plaza, stepped over the boundary of scattered rubble, turned into an incongruous tea house built of marble, went up to the second floor, and entered a European-style private room deep in the corridor.

Inside the private room, a white-haired old man was already sitting by the tea table. His features were of the kind-hearted and amiable sort, but his light gray eyes were devoid of emotion.

After the Caucasian youth entered the room, the old man picked up the teapot and poured half a cup of tea into a bell cup, handing it toward the youth as he said calmly, “Si Qi, I thought you would come in person.”

“Last time your puppet met with me, it still called me ‘Qi Si.’ Now you’ve changed the address. Interesting.” The youth sat down opposite the old man, took the cup of tea poured for him, and looked down at the faint threads shimmering at the old man’s right pinky finger. “Inviting me with a puppet yet demanding my true body to attend—Puppeteer, you are as arrogant as ever.”

“This is not an unreasonable demand, but genuine confusion.” The old man’s gray pupils glinted with the cold light of precision machinery, reflecting the youth’s face. “My puppets and I are one; they possess my thoughts, implement my will, and are extensions of my limbs. I can be anyone, and anyone can be me. It makes no difference who attends this meeting.”

“By the same logic, as long as my will can be conveyed and your expression received, it doesn’t matter who is sitting across from you.” The youth paused and narrowed his eyes. “I’m curious. For a mere exchange and discussion, what necessity is there for me to come in person?”

“Or perhaps you’re being bold and plan to repeat your past failure, trying once again to wrap your Puppet Threads around a god’s pinky finger?”

These words pointed directly at the ill intent behind this Hongmen Banquet. The old man fell silent for two seconds before saying calmly, “It seems your plan went smoothly. Your authority has been restored to completeness, and there were unexpected gains as well.”

“I never knew you were so talkative.” The youth teased before continuing on his own, “However, the probing ends here. My patience isn’t what it used to be, and I’m quite averse to trouble. You can state your reason and purpose for seeking me out now.”

The old man nodded, picked up the teapot again, and poured tea into the cup before him. “The 【Crimson High Priest】 card has three minor cards: 【Merchant】, 【Scholar】, and 【Noble】. According to the rules, it can carry three players into the instance. I hope you can lend me one card to bring a member of Sera into the instance.”

“You say they’re a member of Sera, but they’re actually your puppet, aren’t they?” The youth pointed out the key fact and asked with a smile, “You also hold an Identity Card. Why don’t you bring someone yourself?”

The old man shook his head slightly. “The 【Closed-Eyed Dictator】 main card is a true autocrat; it has no minor cards beneath it.”

The youth laughed out loud. “To think that in the vast Sera Guild, only one Identity Card exists. Do you really not leave yourself any retreat in your daily dealings? After all these years of painstaking management, you’ve ended up in quite a miserable state.”

“Only by burning one’s bridges can one find life in a desperate situation.” The old man remained calm, the arc of the tea pouring into the cup perfectly precise. “Puppets cannot hold Identity Cards. Since I chose to transform everyone into puppets in exchange for the benefits of the guild’s rapid initial accumulation, I naturally have the resolve to bear the cost of being at a disadvantage in the Final Dungeon.”

The youth gave a cold “Heh” laugh. “I suspect it’s just because you’ve long regarded me as your fallback. No matter how the Final Dungeon changes, in your view, you can always unite with other forces and use their strength against them.”

“But why do you think I’ll agree to this? Planting the Puppeteer’s eyes by my side and wasting my own guild’s slots to benefit others—I don’t see the advantage in that.”

“This isn’t a transaction; it’s a cooperation.” The old man put down the teapot and raised his tea cup. “As far as I know, the Unnamed Guild has no top-ranked players other than you, ‘Qi Si.’ Even you have only climbed to the top of the rookie rank.”

“As a newcomer who just entered the instance and a rising new power, entering the Final Dungeon without any accumulation and hoping to defeat the thirty-six years of foundation of others is truly unwise.”

“You need more players with decent strength who can help you—or ‘tools,’ as you put it. Only by maintaining the superficial glory of the Unnamed Guild will you avoid being swallowed whole by the veteran guilds. And I also need to collect information on the Final Dungeon as comprehensively as possible while participating more in the game to ensure I hold a significant share in the competition.”

“You and I are simply taking what we need for mutual benefit. The forces of Jiuzhou and Tingfeng have already integrated. The Balance Church has always been unfaithful and aloof. We will be up against all of them. As fellow practitioners of the Massacre Style, Sera will be the most suitable partner for the Unnamed Guild.”

The youth listened seriously and chuckled. “It sounds like you really are considering my interests, and cooperation is indeed more beneficial than hostility. But you should know my rules: I only trust those who have signed my Contract.”

The old man looked up into the youth’s eyes and said, “If you are willing to let my puppets bind to your minor cards and take them into the Final Dungeon, I can have them sign a Soul Contract with you. As a former Chief God, you should know that the priority of the Contract authority is higher than the Puppet Threads skill.”

“Oh? Just to occupy a few slots, you’re even willing to discard puppets you’ve painstakingly raised to the top ranks? You really are sincere.” The youth’s eyes narrowed into thin slits. “How do I know you aren’t just shoving two random people at me to waste my minor cards and weaken my power in advance, making it easier for you to reap the benefits later?”

“I have no way to provide a more direct proof to make you set aside your suspicions.” The old man brought the tea cup to his lips and drained it in one gulp. “You can refuse my request. Neither of the ones sitting here are our true bodies; no decision will lead to an unacceptable risk.”

“I understand.” The smile on the youth’s face became genuine.

He raised his right hand, and a phantom of a black card with gold patterns condensed at his fingertips, shining brilliantly under the twilight glow filtering through the window frame.

On the card’s surface, a figure in a black robe with golden eyes led a steed, holding a large pile of gold coins in its arms. Like liquid gold, coins fell through the gaps between its fingers, flowing wantonly.

The 【Merchant】 card symbolizes wealth, hypocrisy, and greed; it belongs to the 【Crimson High Priest】 and is responsible for transforming ‘desire’ into harvestable nourishment. Time, emotions, and power can all be products on its shelves… The youth pushed the card toward the old man and said with a smile, “This card is an old friend of ours. I’m curious to see who you will give it to.”

The old man reached out to take it and said, “Thank you. I will try my best to ensure the final result satisfies us both.”

“We both know what the word ‘try’ means, but I still hope for a pleasant cooperation.” The youth finished the tea in his cup, stood up, and walked toward the door.

He seemed to suddenly remember something, stopped his pace, and slightly tilted his head, a streak of crimson moving through his blue eyes. “I remember you telling me that whoever becomes a god, you will kill them—Fu Jue.”

The old man’s expression remained unchanged as he gently placed the card on the table. “I never said that.”

The youth smiled and shook his head, no longer staying, and walked out the door.

He went down the stairs, stepped out of the tea house, and without warning, stumbled and fell to the ground, never to get up again… An hour ago, Qi Si went to his studio in the suburbs of Jiang City. He hadn’t been studying specimens for long when there was a knock at the door.

A middle-aged man calling himself Liu Shiyi visited with a letter, then died of a sudden heart attack at the door.

The letter read: “The Puppeteer cordially invites the Vice Guild Master of the Unnamed Guild, Si Qi, to the Ruins of the Sunset at 12:00 PM to discuss matters regarding the Final Dungeon.”

The similar scene finally stimulated Qi Si’s long-lost sense of humor and interest. He simply disposed of the messenger’s body, and when the time was right, he entered the Eerie Game.

Considering he was too lazy to make the trip himself, he randomly selected a lucky person from those infected by the 【Insomnia Syndrome Pathogen】 and controlled their soul.

Thus, the scene in the tea house at the Ruins of the Sunset occurred.

Cooperating with Sera was already a part of Qi Si’s plan. The Unnamed Guild’s momentum was too strong, but its manpower was too small; it wasn’t realistic to recruit enough usable tools in a short time.

The 【Crimson High Priest】 has three minor cards: 【Merchant】, 【Scholar】, and 【Noble】. The 【Plague Doctor】 has three minor cards: 【Crow】, 【Dove】, and 【Rat】. No matter how Qi Si calculated, he couldn’t gather six usable people.

The 【Jester Trickster】 is a single card just like the 【Closed-Eyed Dictator】, but the 【humanoid evil spirit】 card still left in Shuangxi Town had four minor cards—【Chi】, 【Mei】, 【Wang】, and 【Liang】—in the memories belonging to Qi Si’s identity as Si Qi. Whether they could be re-acquired later was still unknown. The 【Undead Shepherd】 also had a bunch of minor cards.

Although Qi Si didn’t trust others, he was never one to do everything personally; instead, he liked to throw boring, dirty, and exhausting work to others.

He needed some tools who could follow his orders, and the puppets of the Sera Guild would be a good source of potential tools.

Even if he didn’t consider the minor cards on Lin Chen’s side for now, excluding the people from the Sera Guild and Dong Xiwen, there was still one slot left among the minor cards in his hand.

Qi Si believed that as long as the news was released, many players would volunteer to join his command, but he specifically could not reveal the fact that he had no one available.

He could only look among the players he had already controlled through Contracts. Zhang Yiyu wouldn’t work, the people from Qijia Village were all dead, and the group in North America was the last option… Qi Si thought seriously, “Since NPCs can appear on the Revelation Fragment, can they also be bound to a certain minor card?”

…April 29th, 2:00 PM, Qi Si got into a taxi headed for Qijia Village in Jin City.

The taxi driver was an old acquaintance who called himself “Liu Pu.” Sitting in the driver’s seat, he wasn’t as restrained as the previous two times and kept chattering away. “Young man, as soon as I saw a big order from Jiang City to Jin City, I knew it was you. Of all the orders I’ve driven, you’ve made the deepest impression on me.”

Qi Si remained calm and non-committal. “Oh? Is that so? I remember I’ve taken your car twice. We really are fated.”

“Exactly. There aren’t usually big orders around Riverside Estate. After several murders occurred there, not many people dared to come. I also remember you quite like to joke.” Liu Pu exchanged a few pleasantries before moving on. “Lately, the Balance Church has been making a lot of noise. I heard many people died over in Xiang City. The world isn’t peaceful. I hope it doesn’t end up like forty-six years ago…”

Qi Si lowered his eyes and asked, “What do you think of Balance?”

“What’s there to think? Setting aside whether they succeed or not, even if they do, no matter who’s in charge, won’t we still live like this? Maybe if the world gets chaotic, things like funds and loans won’t have to be paid back anymore.”

At 6:00 PM, the taxi arrived outside Qijia Village. Thick fog billowed on the roads in the village. Looking into the fog, one could see blurry humanoid creatures swaying in the wind.

Liu Pu made a move to step on the brakes, but Qi Si said indifferently, “Drive in. My house is deep inside the village; it’s quite a long way.”

Liu Pu replied, “Alright,” and the taxi turned and drove into the village.

The moment the car was completely submerged in the thick fog, Qi Si felt his divine power, which had been blocked, return to his body. He slowly clenched the five fingers of his right hand as if crushing something.

Liu Pu in the driver’s seat stiffened all over, as if an invisible existence were choking him. Two seconds later, his limbs went limp again, and his hands on the steering wheel fell weakly, hitting the side of the seat.

Qi Si saw that his right pinky finger had a wooden texture, with a translucent thread trailing from the tip…