"You said the Deer Hunter brought a newcomer in that day to modify his weapon, and he was going to let him join the team—"
Bai Liu raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. "—but this newcomer says he can join the Deer Hunter team only on the condition that he asks you to modify my weapon?"
General Hua Gan wiped the corner of his mouth. "Yes. This newcomer knows I am the best reformer in the game and demanded that I reform your weapon, adapting it specifically to suit you, greatly increasing your combat and defense power."
His eyes fell on Bai Liu's hands. "The idea of turning your wallet into gloves came from this newcomer. He wanted you to have a pair of black leather gloves that fit your hands perfectly, work with the whip, and allow easy access to notes without risking injury."
"In order to recruit this newcomer into the guild, our president agreed to his outrageous demands."
As he spoke, a flash of anger crossed his face, but he quickly suppressed it.
"The chairman negotiated with your investor, Charles, to fulfill the newcomer's request. This is a disgrace and a betrayal to the weapon modifiers who serve the Guild exclusively!"
Bai Liu released his hands from holding General Hua Gan down. "But you still said yes."
Hua Gan exhaled deeply. Bai Liu blocked his chest, so he lowered his head in frustration. "…Yes. I could not disobey the President's request."
After a pause, he added, "Even if you had my soul, I would serve no one but the Deer Hunter's Guild."
Bai Liu glanced at Liu Jiayi beside him and gave a questioning look. She shook her head with a sigh, signaling that it was time to stop.
—As General Hua Gan said, he would rather die than serve anyone outside the Guild.
Unlike hordes of reserve team members or statisticians like Wang Shun who interact with multiple people, the guild's control over its reformers was extraordinary. Even if Bai Liu obtained General Hua's soul, it would be extremely difficult to get this iron-willed, stubborn man to compromise.
Unlike ordinary players with constant desires, these reformers' desires and souls have long been polished and refined, blending seamlessly with their tools. They are nearly invulnerable, communicating only through the weapons derived from their desire, where the weapon becomes greater than the wielder.
The reformers remain loyal to the guild in which they hone their favorite weapons. They would never betray the weapon, let alone the guild, making them among the most loyal members possible.
General Hua Gan is the best reformer—and naturally the hardest to sway.
If Mu Sicheng hadn't controlled the apprentice from the start, Hua Gan would not have uttered a word.
After receiving a subtle sign from Liu Jiayi, Bai Liu calmly changed his approach. "I won't ask you to serve us all the time; we just want to know why."
"You have to protect your guild, and I have to protect my guild's players," Hua Gan said. Bai Liu smiled. "Can you give me some useful information? For example, who was that new player who asked you to reform my weapon?"
The question did not touch the heart of the guild's secrets—sooner or later, players would be revealed to others.
General Hua Gan hesitated, then spoke. "I'm not sure exactly who it was. When the president brought him here, he was wearing a mask covered in blood. But his skill weapon was a very long green plastic toy gun."
Bai Liu slowly toyed with the long hook by the boiler. "Mr. Hua, this kind of information is no way to see us off."
Hua Gan gritted his teeth. "I won't tell you his skills, but I can tell you what happened during the transformation. The gun was a strange, plastic-like flare gun that dissolved in less than a dimensional second when placed in the lava."
He wrinkled his brow in recollection. "I've transformed many weapons, but I've never seen anything like this—nor such a strange owner. When the weapon dissolved, the man sat next to it, humming without the slightest hurry."
"I had no choice but to keep adding materials to try to fish the weapon out, saturating the lava and attempting to precipitate the gun."
Hua Gan's face grew troubled. "Half the warehouse's materials were poured in, and the lava didn't budge. That's when I realized something wasn't right. The material wasn't dissolving—it was being consumed by the gun."
"I threw in even more material, emptying the guild's warehouse, and the gun still hadn't had enough. Eventually, the president had to go to Charles to buy new material, and that's when they contacted him."
General Hua Gan exhaled a long breath. "Charles promised to supply us with a large amount of materials for free, but at the same time, he asked me to modify the weapons for an entire team for you."
"I kept throwing materials into the lava that day—even pieces of fully modified skill weapons—but the gun never precipitated. It was like a giant black hole, never satisfied, devouring the desires and souls of others."
"...I've never seen such a greedy skill weapon."
Hua Gan stared at the fiery red boiler, lost in thought. "Finally, the President got a scrap of dirty wallet leather from Charles and said it was a remnant for your initial weapon transformation."
"I cast the leather into the lava, and as it boiled, I saw the remains of the gun after it dissolved gather around the leather, stacking up like crystalline agglomerates precipitating from a saturated solution."
He looked at Bai Liu, his voice dry. "By the time the lava was nearly burned dry, a sniper rifle coalesced from the bottom of the pot, and I began to fear it. If the process of forging your glove made me feel controlled, the gun felt like a hole so deep that one's soul would be swallowed, never to return."
Tang Erda, silent on the sidelines, caught his breath.
Bai Liu dropped the long hook and seemed to sense something as he ran two fingers over the metal ring at the opening of his glove, narrowing his eyes.
Hua Gan noticed Bai Liu's gaze and let out a long sigh. "Looks like you guessed it. Yes, that metal ring on your glove is the material from that gun. And it's not residual material—it's core material."
"The newcomer with all the blood on his mask, after getting that gun, asked me what materials I needed for the glove transformation. A non-attacking skill weapon like a glove is extremely difficult to transform, and this newcomer wasn't interested in his own weapon, only yours."
"I told him that if your wrist strength wasn't good enough, gloves generally need to be light, but most premium materials are too heavy for standard gloves and wouldn't increase the base value."
Hua Gan took a deep breath. "He asked if his gun was advanced enough to be used as material. I said it was more than enough, but your gun was already fully modified, and removing part of it would have destroyed its integrity. By then, he had a soul connection with the weapon—he would have felt the pain of plucking even a marginal piece."
"But he said, ' Why should you use a rimfire?" Hua Gan's expression twisted as if he had seen a monster. "Then the guy plucked out his own gun core, threw it into the lava, and walked away."
"...I quenched the weapon several times in between, but it was like the gun's core dissolved and didn't respond at all."
Hua Gan looked at the metal ring on Bai Liu's glove with a complicated expression. "But the moment your glove came out of the oven today, I saw this ring and knew—it was the material from his gun core."
Bai Liu was silent for a moment, then rose. "Mr. Hua Gan, I promise, as Bai Liu, that I will not use your soul for anything against your original intentions after this collaboration. In return, I hope you will give your best effort to reform my crew today."
With that, Bai Liu waved his hand. Mu Sicheng stared suspiciously at Hua Gan for a few seconds before releasing his grip on the apprentice.
The apprentice sank to the ground in a weak heap, shrinking back into a ball of fear as he looked at the men.
General Hua Gan stared at Bai Liu in astonishment, then paused before snorting and responding, "Take a man's money and be loyal to him. Men are guilty, weapons are not. Whatever you've done, your weapons are innocent. I will not count your wrongs against them and will naturally treat them well."
Bai Liu nodded admiringly, then smiled. "Apart from that, I have a delicate request, Mr. Hua Gan."
"I would like to place an outside order in your name to a King's Guild appraiser."
Hua Gan asked, "What do you want to identify?"
Bai Liu, hands clasped, eyes lowered: "These gloves on my hands."
Hua Gan understood. "All the weapons I've modified, right? That's fine. Feel free to appraise them, and I'll place the orders for you."
With that, the reformer, whose soul was no longer constrained, patted his pants, stood up, and helped the limp apprentice to his feet. He acted as if nothing had happened, removing the monkey's paw that Mu Sicheng had been holding and putting on a magnifying glass to study it intently.
Bai Liu sat in the corner, eyes lowered, examining the gloves on his hands. Tang Erda, standing behind him, whispered, "...It's the clown."
"Well, I guessed that," Bai Liu said. "But Cen Buming has his reasons for doing this for me. The clown shouldn't know me now. But every move felt like he knew me specifically..." Bai Liu half-closed his eyes. "If the clown knew what my skills were and what I would do, having this reformer take the initiative to transform my weapons is very much like wrapping this transformation as a gift for me."
Tang Erda said quietly, "The clown knows you can use your skills to take control of this reformer."
Bai Liu tugged at the edge of his glove and pulled it off, thoughtfully examining the metal ring. "And this material, too—he took it upon himself to fuse the best materials to rectify the situation, then just waited for me to receive it. I know what he did, but the question is why he did it."
Tang Erda said, "If it were any other world line, I could see why the clown would do it."
Bai Liu looked up.
"The best material, the best reformer..." Tang Erda sighed. "The clown of the other world line always offers you the best because, in his eyes, only the best is worthy of you."