Absolute Destiny Game-Chapter 1172 - 30: Passing the Buck, Three Days
Xiao Jie leisurely gazed down at the three before him, who were as silent as cicadas in winter, and couldn’t help but feel a strange sensation in his heart.
Is this the authority brought by strength? With a flip of the hand, he decides life and death, in the snap of a finger, he turns them to ashes. Those who follow me may leave unscathed; those who defy me face the immediate danger of demise. The ancient emperors held the power of life and death, and it was not unlike this, was it? Since becoming an Immortal, the change in perspective and mindset is indeed beyond imagination.
His mind was clear, even somewhat wickedly joyful, but the three before him felt as if they had fallen into an ice cave, each second was torture upon a knife’s edge. The feeling of life and death hinging on another’s whim was enough to make anyone, no matter how strong they fancied themselves, feel insignificant and powerless.
Especially for the Pantheon, an existence that had always stood above ordinary players, the three were now more uncomfortable than ever before.
No-class Old Cat was the quickest thinker, and was the first to craft an excuse. He first used a [Kneel] action towards Xiao Jie, directly prostrating himself atop the cloud, his tiger head looking somewhat comical: "Immortal Suifeng has the grace and elegance of jade, unmatched in celestial bearing, and possesses a noble character and high moral integrity beyond our mortal understanding! Now that you are an Immortal who roams freely across the world, your thinking is already transcendent beyond earthly matters. Those trivial conflicts and minor frictions of the past are like dust to the bright moon, surely you wouldn’t take them to heart. In your eyes, we are no different from ants crawling on the ground. With a sea-like heart, full of tolerance, why bother measuring against us insignificant ants?"
These words lowered his stance into the dust, kneeling when necessary, and unhesitatingly flattering. One Punch Man listened, his face burning with almost secondhand shame. Yet, No-class Old Cat maintained a calm demeanor, his tone extremely sincere, as if every word came from the heart, without a psychological barrier.
Xiao Jie couldn’t help but chuckle, thinking to himself, indeed, when facing a survival crisis, human potential is limitless. To stay alive, one could say anything, do anything.
"What you said isn’t without reason." Xiao Jie’s tone was flat, giving nothing away, "Since ascending to Immortal Position, many past obsessions and grievances are indeed like passing clouds, becoming insignificant."
"The Immortal sees clearly! So..." No-class Old Cat felt a joy in his heart, thinking he had persuaded the other party.
Yet Xiao Jie’s following words struck him like lightning, the flattery he had prepared stuck in his throat.
"But," Xiao Jie’s tone shifted, laced with a casual indifference, "grudges are still grudges. If I didn’t happen upon you, I wouldn’t bother to seek you out for reckoning. But since we’ve crossed paths today, crushing you with a flick of the wrist would save me the trouble. After all, just as you said, you’re but ants. While walking, stepping on a few unsightly ants unintentionally, what’s there to mind?"
This offhand remark was more terrifying than a direct threat. No-class Old Cat’s face turned white, unable to utter the prepared endless barrage of flattery.
One Punch Man saw this, realizing flattery was useless and knew another strategy was needed.
This one was willing to be reasonable, so reasoning it shall be, "Ahem!" He cleared his throat lightly, then began with a muffled voice, "Actually, well... Suifeng, you really can’t blame us entirely for this matter. Many times, we were just following orders, acting according to... uh, the higher-ups’ intentions. Also, to be honest, looking at it from another angle, our Pantheon stirring up all sorts of major events in the game, in a way, wasn’t that also a kind of help to you?"
Seeing Xiao Jie didn’t interrupt immediately, One Punch Man gathered the courage to continue: "Think about it, if it weren’t for us tirelessly ’stirring things up,’ constantly pushing the game’s plot and version development, how would the World Bosses descend? And how would those rare Ascension Items drop, providing players with opportunities to become Immortal?"
Of course, we never dare claim credit for you seizing the Ascension Items; it was entirely due to your strength and fortune, we wouldn’t dare to steal such credit. But speaking of it, we should still count as ’promoters’ pushing from behind, shouldn’t we? Even if you don’t thank us, there’s no need to make things so difficult for us, right?"
This reasoning attempted to shift the parties’ positions away from opposition to a subtle "cooperative" relation, undeniably clever.
"Hehehehe..." Xiao Jie let out an ambiguous laugh, "So, this is what you think. These words actually have a bit of twisted logic to them."
Hearing this, the tense nerves of the three eased slightly, a glimmer of hope appearing on their faces.
Yet unexpectedly, Xiao Jie immediately said indifferently: "If I truly relied on the Ascension Items you ’pushed’ matters to create, then your words might hold some weight. Unfortunately—" he deliberately prolonged his tone, watching their faces freeze instantly, "my achievement of the Immortal Position wasn’t based on any Ascension items. So, what basis is there for your ’promoting merit’?"
"What? Impossible!" One Punch Man blurted out, his voice full of disbelief, "Without Ascension Items, how could you possibly..." As soon as he spoke, he realized his slip; how could he expect another to easily reveal the secret of achieving immortality?
"What?" Xiao Jie sneered, "Didn’t your Pantheon’s Heavenly Venerate also become an Immortal without relying on Ascension Items? Is there only one path in this world, dependent on Ascension Items?"
