chapter 33

When one player shows any intent to attack another, the system immediately enforces spatial isolation—so how could this thing cause his health bar to drop straight into the red?

"Siren's Fishbone," Bai Liu replied without the slightest attempt at concealment. He lifted his shirt, openly displaying the bone coiled around his waist. As he did, the fishbone instinctively tightened, wrapping itself securely and covering every inch of exposed skin.

"It's one of the items you saw in my reward list," Bai Liu said candidly. There was no reason to hide it—after all, the system had already "paraded it in public." With the existence of [live broadcasts] and the [forum] Wang Shun had mentioned, any item Bai Liu used in-game would eventually become common knowledge. There was no point in keeping its function secret.

His personal skill, however, was a different matter—a trump card worth hiding for as long as possible.

But as for the fishbone's true function, Bai Liu was as much in the dark as anyone. He needed to experiment, but didn't want to risk it in-game, where a failed test could mean death. The best approach was to figure it out outside the game, then use it decisively once inside.

For that, he needed a test subject—and Mu Ke, trapped and desperate, was perfect: compliant and available.

Bai Liu hadn't intended to test it on Mu Sicheng, but Mu Sicheng's impulsive touch had revealed that the fishbone could, in fact, attack players even within the system hall. In other words, it truly could tear through space.

"They say it can rend time and space. I'm going to try it on Mu Ke," Bai Liu said, raising the whip as he glanced at Mu Ke's small television.

Wang Shun was utterly bewildered by Bai Liu's logic. "Wait! Bai Liu, what are you doing? What if you accidentally kill Mu Ke with a single strike?!"

Mu Sicheng, however, quickly caught on and snorted. "You're trying to save him? How charitable."

"No," Bai Liu smiled, "not exactly. I intend to make a deal."

He drew the fishbone whip from his waist, flexed his wrist, and with a deep breath, lashed it toward Mu Ke's small television.

The moment he swung, Bai Liu felt as if his left arm weighed a thousand pounds. The fishbone struck an invisible barrier before the screen and fell limply, but even that small motion sent tremors through the seabed in Mu Ke's feed, making the screen flicker as if the signal were failing.

Everything around Bai Liu shattered like glass as the whip fell—Mu Sicheng and Wang Shun's forms blurred and receded, like distorted figures on a malfunctioning TV.

Bai Liu found himself in utter darkness, yet he could hear the sound of ocean waves and Mu Ke's desperate, tearful cries from the small television with startling clarity.

Mu Ke, sensing a presence at the bottom of the sea, began to plead frantically for help.

"Someone, please save me!" Mu Ke sobbed, kneeling in the ruined water bubble, tears streaming down his face. "I'll do anything! Please, save me!"

Bai Liu wanted to swing again, but the system abruptly warned:

[System Warning: Using this item consumes a tremendous amount of energy. Player Bai Liu's stamina is insufficient for another use. Forcing it will drop stamina below zero and result in immediate ejection from the game.]

Bai Liu instantly relented. [Am I now in the same dimension as Mu Ke?]

[System: Calculating… Due to a spatial rupture from the attack, a small overlap has formed between your dimensions. Player Bai Liu is currently in the fissure between two torn dimensions. You can transmit sound, but not images, and may attempt simple trades.]

"Sound, then?" Bai Liu mused. He called softly, "Mu Ke."

Mu Ke, sobbing, scrambled in the bubble like a lost dog, answering in a wail, "I'm here! Who are you? Please, save me!"

"I am a wanderer," Bai Liu replied quietly, watching Mu Ke on the screen and finding it hard to reconcile this weeping, broken figure with the arrogant young master who had once displaced him.

In a way, it was Mu Ke's whim that had made Bai Liu a [pauper wanderer]. Now, Mu Ke was begging the very outcast he'd created for salvation—and that wanderer was about to claim the last thing of value Mu Ke possessed, through a devil's bargain.

A strange, poetic cycle.

"I can save you, but not for free—I'm poor myself," Bai Liu said honestly. "You'll need to make a deal with me. In exchange for my help, you must give me something."

"Yes! Anything! I'll give you whatever you want! Please, save me!" Mu Ke cried, reaching out for a god that wasn't there. "Are you a god? Or the system? Where are you? What do you want—money? Something else? I have nothing left… Please don't abandon me, I want to live!"

"I'm not a god. In fact, I'm probably not a good thing for you," Bai Liu said with clinical detachment.

He bore Mu Ke no special malice—just a mild dislike, which, for Bai Liu, was already formidable. "To you, I suppose I'm more like a devil."

"A devil… so you want my soul?" Mu Ke shuddered, his eyes going blank for a moment before flaring with desperate hope. "If you save me, I'll give you my soul."

Bai Liu's intended request for the [Mermaid's Talisman] caught in his throat. He raised an eyebrow, intrigued by Mu Ke's unexpected offer.

He did need the [Mermaid's Talisman], but he also needed a test subject for his peculiar skill, [Old Wallet], which, according to its description, could trade for souls…

"Deal." Bai Liu smiled, pulling two hundred points from his battered wallet and offering them to Mu Ke's small television. The coin at his chest flashed, and the points vanished.

[System: Player Bai Liu has purchased Player Mu Ke's soul for 200 points.]

[System Notification: Player Mu Ke has received 200 points.]

Mu Ke nearly burst into tears at the sight of the points. "You really are a devil! I sold you my soul and you only gave me 200 points? That's not enough to buy an item!"

"I am stingy—I'm a poor wanderer, after all," Bai Liu replied, unashamed. "But 200 points, plus your battered water bubble, is enough to survive if you follow my instructions. Open your shop and buy alcohol—yes, alcohol. And please, stop crying. You're louder than I am, little brother…"

——

When Mu Ke finally cleared the level, Bai Liu found a new, polaroid-like coin in his wallet, stamped with Mu Ke's pale, wan smile and the number [200 points] in the corner. On the back, it read [Soul Coin]. Scanning it with the system manager brought up an explanation:

[Item: Player Mu Ke's Soul Coin]

[Usage: You possess full soul-debt ownership of Player Mu Ke, granting you the rights to command, control, cultivate, or erase him.]

Command, control, cultivate, erase—Bai Liu narrowed his eyes. Wasn't this the same authority the system held over players?

So this was [soul-debt ownership].

Which meant, in effect, that the system held this over every player. Did that mean all players, upon entering the game, had already sold their souls to the system?

Interesting.

Bai Liu asked: [So now I'm essentially Mu Ke's system? Who has greater authority over him—me or the official system?]

[System: Calculating… In the event of a conflict between the system and Player Bai Liu over Mu Ke, the system's decision prevails due to your current lack of strength.]

Tsk. So it's a matter of power. If he grew stronger, could he seize the system's authority over Mu Ke? Could he even, one day, control the system itself?

For now, these were only musings—he was out of stamina, and could do nothing more. He stepped out of the dark fissure, dizziness washing over him, nearly collapsing from exhaustion.

Wang Shun hurried to steady him. "What happened? You swung the whip and then just froze."

Mu Sicheng, meanwhile, eyed Bai Liu thoughtfully. "How did you do it? Mu Ke just cleared the level using the same method you did."