The Reverse God winked. "Bai Liu is in the game pool. Do you want to go find him?"
Spades glanced at him. "Why do you want me to look for Bai Liu?"
The Reverse God chuckled. "Bai Liu rented the game pool. I want to ask if he'll let us use part of it. Of course, not for free—we're willing to pay."
"Aren't you and Bai Liu the only ones here who have a decent relationship? You're the only one who can speak up," the Reverse God coaxed.
Spades slowly straightened his back, nodded in agreement, stood up, and said expressionlessly, "Then I'll take you to ask."
Liao Ke, watching from the side: "…"
Spades, you're way too easy to fool.
—————————————————
Outside the game pool, the Reverse God looked at the sign that read No Entry Except Wandering Circus Members, scratched his head, and cautiously stepped inside.
An alarm immediately rang.
Bai Liu walked out calmly, followed by Tang Erda, who was packing up his guns.
After a long while, Mu Sicheng—his face bruised and swollen—Mu Ke, with blood at the corner of his mouth, and Liu Jiayi, whose injuries were lighter but whose face was clearly bruised, crawled out of the game pool on their hands and knees.
Mu Sicheng lay flat on the ground and spat out a mouthful of blood. "Bai Liu, you bastard! It's just training—why are you so ruthless?!"
Mu Ke propped himself up with his sword, barely sitting upright. He was breathing heavily, lips trembling, unable to speak.
Liu Jiayi, slightly better off, collapsed the moment she logged out. After taking a deep breath and coughing a few times, she said, "Bai Liu, I seriously thought you were going to kill us and replace the team."
"Not really." Bai Liu smiled mildly. "I just think if you can't even endure this, it's better to die at my hands than at someone else's in the league."
Mu Sicheng shot up in shock and anger. Pointing at Bai Liu, he complained to Liu Jiayi, "See? I said in the game he might actually want to kill us! And he just admitted it!"
"If we die, where are you going to find better teammates?!"
Bai Liu lifted his eyes and looked toward the entrance of the game pool.
Mu Sicheng instinctively followed his gaze and saw the awkward-looking Reverse God—and Spades, who was staring fixedly at Bai Liu—standing at the doorway.
"Why are the Killer Sequence people here?" Mu Sicheng immediately stood in front of Bai Liu protectively. "Hey, we rented the game pool today! Didn't you see the sign?"
Bai Liu stepped forward and looked at the Reverse God. "What's the matter?"
The Reverse God scratched his cheek awkwardly. "This might sound shameless, but Bai Liu, could we borrow part of the game pool your team rented?"
"Not for free!" Seeing the Wandering Circus members glare at him, he waved his hands hurriedly. "We'll pay. Name your price!"
Bai Liu thought for a moment. "Alright."
Mu Sicheng's voice rose in disbelief. "Bai Liu!"
Bai Liu smiled faintly. "But I don't just want money. I want something else."
The Reverse God stiffened. "What?"
"Some information I might need soon."
The Reverse God paused, then asked carefully, "Fanatic Lambs and Russell Cemetery, right?"
"Yes." Bai Liu smiled pleasantly. "Mr. Reverse God, you're one of the few tacticians I know who has fought both guilds—and won. I believe you must have valuable experience to share."
The Reverse God studied Bai Liu for a while before stroking his chin and breaking into a bright smile. "Of course! Tacticians should help one another."
Then he grabbed Bai Liu by the shoulders and gently pushed him aside with a grin. "But that's a long story. Let me talk to you alone. How about you let my team use the pool first?"
Bai Liu glanced at him, then turned to Tang Erda. "Let them in. You guys continue training. I'll talk to the Reverse God."
Tang Erda nodded and dragged the still-grumbling Mu Sicheng inside.
—————————————————
Inside the game pool hall, Bai Yi and Bai Jiamu tried their best to move Spades—but he stood rooted in place, refusing to budge.
Spades stared unblinkingly at Bai Liu, who was speaking with the Reverse God in the corner. Bai Yi and Bai Jiamu practically carried him in by his legs, panting from exhaustion.
Bai Yi snapped, "Spades, didn't you hear? The Reverse God told us to train!"
Spades paused. "I don't want to train."
Bai Jiamu frowned. "We came here to train!"
"I didn't."
"Then why did you come?"
Spades fell silent again.
He had come for Bai Liu.
But Bai Liu had ignored him completely—never once looking his way or speaking to him.
Liao Ke called out helplessly, half-amused, "Reverse God! Spades is guarding the door and refusing to train!"
The Reverse God turned around and saw Spades staring at Bai Liu. He pressed a hand to his forehead in exasperation, then turned to Bai Liu with a flattering smile and clasped his hands.
"President Bai, I have a favor to ask. Could you tell Spades to go train? He won't listen to me—but he listens to you."
Bai Liu glanced at Spades from afar, expression indifferent. "He's not my main attacker. If I give him orders, wouldn't that be inappropriate?"
The Reverse God laughed. "President Bai, aren't you used to inappropriate situations? Or is it that Spades troubles you so much you don't even dare speak to him?"
Bai Liu fell silent for a moment before finally saying, "Spades, go train."
Spades stood quietly for a few seconds. "…Oh."
He turned and walked into the game pool hall, gripping his whip tightly and striking it lightly against his knee, as if punishing himself.
The Reverse God let out a long breath of relief and clasped his hands together in thanks. "Thank you, President Bai."
Bai Liu narrowed his eyes slightly. "You're welcome. I hope the information you provide will satisfy me."
The Reverse God's smile faded. "As for Russell Cemetery, your guild's intelligence division has already gathered most of what there is. I don't have much more."
"As for how I defeated them—that involves my skill secrets. I can't disclose that."
"But in my opinion, Russell Cemetery is a team that frequently changes players. Intelligence is nearly useless against them. You have to face them on the field. It's troublesome."
He looked at Bai Liu. "However, I do have something to tell you about the Fanatic Lambs."
"In my opinion, they're more dangerous than Russell Cemetery."
"I know you challenged and killed their tactician," Bai Liu said calmly.
The Reverse God was quiet for a moment. "We failed to kill him. That tactician has a Death Immunity Medal. He's still their tactician."
Bai Liu asked, "You're known for being moderate and avoiding harm. Why did you go that far?"
The Reverse God stared at the empty entrance of the game pool.
"There are two players in that team with extremely destructive skills."
"One is their tactician, Kong Yangxu. His skill is called [Silence]. After activation, he can freeze the system panels of all players on the field—including his own team."
"When the panels are frozen, skills, systems, and stored items become unusable. All advantages built by large guilds vanish instantly."
He leaned his head against the wall, exhaling slowly.
"If, at that moment, a team has no player with a Death Immunity Medal and someone gets injured, it's a nightmare."
"They'll relentlessly target that player, trying to kill them, because if that person dies, they're truly dead."
"For a guild like the Deer Hunters, which values teamwork deeply, that kind of tactic destroys morale."
"With the panels frozen, I couldn't even click surrender as a tactician. I had to watch them slaughter my teammates while gritting my teeth and clearing the game—because only by completing it could it end."
"In the end, I killed their tactician, terminated his skill, and won."
Bai Liu asked, "And the other skill?"
The Reverse God's gaze darkened. "[Paparazzi]."
"This one is the most dangerous. It's not used in-game—but outside."
"It captures the real-world coordinates of the person you interact with most frequently."
"Once they have the coordinates, they attack that person in reality. At the same time, they notify you and force you to rush over—so you witness the attack."
His voice faltered.
Bai Liu looked at him calmly. "I don't enjoy hearing people reopen their wounds."
"But if you urgently need someone to listen, I can do so free of charge."
"I keep secrets well. No one would learn from me that the famous No. 1 tactician has such a tragic past."
The Reverse God laughed softly. "Should I thank you, then?"
Bai Liu nodded. "You're welcome."
The Reverse God burst out laughing. "You're really interesting."
After a pause, he said quietly, "The coordinates they captured were my lover's workplace."
"She was a kindergarten teacher. She had just gotten off work. The kindergarten was still full of children."
"The Fanatic Lambs drove a car straight into it."
He exhaled slowly.
"She pushed the children away and was thrown aside. Her abdomen was torn open."
"She survived… but she can no longer have children."
"She loves children."
Bai Liu said nothing.
The Reverse God forced a smile. "Awkward, isn't it?"
Bai Liu shook his head. "Such a major incident—I've never seen any news about it. I assume…"
"Yes. Just as you think." The Reverse God replied calmly. "You've met Li Gou, haven't you? The criminal who exchanged points for props to erase evidence of murder?"
"So did the Fanatic Lambs."
"They commit crimes, then spend points to redeem items that erase the facts—even the victims' memories. Only the scars remain."
"My wife doesn't remember what happened. She doesn't know why she suddenly became infertile."
He looked up.
"Except for me, no one remembers."
"I considered killing him afterward."
"But there's no evidence in reality. In the central hall, he can't be killed. In-game, he can silence all skills. The cost of killing him is too high. I won't sacrifice a teammate's life for that."
"He'll die sooner or later."
Bai Liu asked, "Have you considered using props to restore your lover's body?"
The Reverse God lowered his gaze. "I don't want to use anything from this game on her. It's enough that she was dragged into it once."
Bai Liu said, "I heard that during your match, Kong Yangxu screamed that no one could kill him—inside or outside the game."
The Reverse God smiled faintly. "I made a prophecy."
"Wasn't your panel frozen?" Bai Liu asked. "How could you predict anything?"
"I couldn't." The Reverse God smiled. "I lied. But he believed me."
"I told him—no matter how despicable your struggle is, one day you'll die at the hands of the most cruel and outstanding tactician in the world."
He turned to Bai Liu with a grin.
"Well? Doesn't that sound intimidating?"
Bai Liu withdrew his gaze.
"Not bad."